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Where do you dream up condone ? We're all here online... He's hidden in some god forbidden mountain with no chance of taking any true action on another, other than maybe a papaya... relax a bit.

I also read something, yrs ago, about Einstein or the likes sometimes getting breakthroughs via dreams. I have only sparse information re: dream work: - that one ought to keep a dream journal by your bed, as we often forget dreams and writing helps open & stabilize the conscious <~> dream connection. - that sometimes you can go to sleep with a question 'intending' to address it in dream. My (very limited) experience is that dream work takes considerable time to develop.. but pretty much every tradition (whether mystical or psychotherapeutic) considers it important territory. - Trunk

I recently (just a few weeks ago) discovered in a conversation with my wife... after nearly 30 years of marriage, that my wife has aphantasia. She cannot form images or visualize anything in her mind. When I say to her, imagine a red ball. She does not see a red ball in some manner in her mind. She has a sense of a ball that is red, but sees no virtual color or shape. This gob-smacked me... Didn't know this was possible, except in cases of brain damage, which is recorded. But evidently for as many as one in fifty, folks are simply not able to form pictures/images, sounds, smells... nothing in their mind's eye. Something I didn't even know was a thing in human constructs... It absolutely horrified me and has been weighing on me as I consider how other's meditate and dream... and think or even conceive of ideas and concepts. It came about when I was really pegging her down over a dream she had had and how the building she was in was created... and she couldn't describe it in concrete terms. She then revealed that she does not and has never in her life visualized any sight or sound of anything in her mind... that she indeed cannot and has no idea how to go about visualizing or creating any images in her mind... no sound, no sights, no smells... nada... only feelings of things... the overall sense of them. She dreams, but only through cognitive intuition... she feels the settings and the events... she does not experience them in the manner I do, by standing in a location, where I see, touch, feel, taste and smell all that is transpiring around me. We are both utterly awed and stunned by how the other processes images and by how the other's mind works. I told her, no wonder math and geometry were so challenging for you... for me, math is almost all visualization of groupings and relationships.... So anyway there's that... aphantasia... third eye blind.

Chasing reality is like running in a dream. You run and run, but can't get anywhere. Same thing may be happening in cosmology and quantum physics. That's why I like to think we are living in dreams, and those dreams could be all that exists. Imagine you were a physicist in a dream, trying to find out the secrets of reality. What kind of results would you get in that dream? Probably absurd results, with nothing really to hold on. Just like in this reality.

No,...The Heart Sutra implies that when the 5 skandhas are seen as the emptiness they are, phenomena is seen subjectively for what it is (that is empty), yet the object does not dissolve. This does not mean that the object ever existed,...it is merely empty,...always was, always will be. In a lucid dream, we can see that the objects in the dream are empty, although to the 6 senses, the objects appear to exist. Emptiness is the real nature of all phenomena. Our liberation from sentient beingness is not in its dissolution, but the realization that sentient beingness is empty of any nature of its own. As the Heart Sutra implies,...empty and form are not separate,...nor is empty separate from feeling, discrimination,formation, and consciousness,...all are empty. Karl Brunnholzl wrote, "Emptiness is not some kind of spiritual atom bomb that destroys everything that we know, though it may seem that way sometimes because it crashes the hard drive of our ego-mind with all its stored belief systems." This is why the first Absolute Bodhicitta lojong says, "Look at everything you preceive as a dream." When you do,...that is, can perceive everything as a dream, it uncovers absolute bodhicitta or realization of prajnaparamita. To understand the 4 Noble Truths is to appreciate emptiness. To understand Dependent Origination is to appreciate emptiness.

Sit quietly, in raw beingness, listen with all of awareness, not just with mind, or ears... and the inner teacher will become apparent. Though, in my experience, the inner teacher does not always manifest 'inside'. Often i meet my inner teacher 'outside' and we never share words, they may often not even aware they have lent me a teaching. They are most often not human in shape. i find i become aware of my teacher in those windows when the trance state of the waking dream quiets down and i find awareness truly wakens for a bit... in this state, teachers and masters are revealed in every corner of manifestation. The old saying 'when the student is ready, the teacher appears', has shifted to... 'when the student wakens, all of life becomes a teacher.' Indeed, i was a poor man, when, not listening, i stomped about proclaiming Nature to be mute. The anchor of the universe is in the unfolding shape of your limbs, the beating of your heart, the glint of your eyes. We all of us unfold in the soup of co-arising conditions emanating from one source. We can never be lost, broken, or wrent. All is One. Now... whom is master of whom?

3 Parts Of The Matrix You Must Unplug From Instead of listing the traits, habits and behaviors that successful people have and how to apply them to your life, my objective for this article is to tell you the three divisions of the Matrix you must unplug from to give yourself a better chance for success, happiness, and overall a more fulfilling life. I’ve purposely ordered the divisions in what I feel would be the easiest sequence to unplug from, though you may find your personal order to be different. Let’s begin with the first… Companionship Companionship, also known as a serious relationship, is by far the most deceitful division of the Matrix (which is also why this section will be the most comprehensive), because while you’re enjoying the euphoric highs and dealing with the typical lows you don’t quite realize what you lost until the ride is over. Understand that it is not my intent to denigrate long-term relationships or marriage. I feel that these two forms of companionship can be very rewarding later on in a man’s life when he is accomplished and mentally ready for either endeavor. However, you must understand that every man has three banks that he must protect at all cost: The Time Bank, The Money Bank, and The Energy/Desire Bank. In order to be truly successful and achieve greatness at whatever you strive to accomplish you will more than likely need to devote a significant amount of your time, money, and energy. The problem is that by being involved in a serious relationship or marriage you have (whether intentionally or not) communicated to your woman that she is numero uno in the hierarchy of important things in your life (otherwise you would have never committed to her exclusively right?). This is where conflict arises. So you want to create the next social media site to knock Facebook on its ass? Good luck telling your girlfriend/wife you can’t take her to the movies because you have various manuals to read on source coding. So you have expensive computer hardware and software to buy in order to launch you business? Good luck telling her you won’t be financially able to take her on that big trip to Aruba for her birthday like you promised her last year. Which brings me to the Energy/Desire Bank; do you honestly think that after getting off from your 9-5 and jumping head first into building your side business or pursuing your hobbies that you will have the energy or desire to put up with what will be the constant nagging of your woman? You’re relationship will resemble the movie Groundhog Day with repeated naggings of “We barely spend time together anymore” and “You haven’t taken me anywhere nice since you’ve been spending all your money on that stupid project” and my favorite “It’s like your mind is always somewhere else when we hangout, you’re not the same guy I fell in love with”. And guess what gentleman; she’s right. Women aren’t designed or conditioned to play second fiddle to anything let alone the business idea that you’ve been spending so much of your time, money, and energy on to get off the ground. Women just don’t understand sacrifice and will rarely if ever see the big picture. Understand we are not talking about Lebron’s high school sweetheart that stuck it out with him until his NBA dreams came to fruition. We are talking about regular ole you with ambitions to be the first multi-millionaire in your family. Girlfriends/wives have a hard time picturing “regular ole you” achieving the types of things that only a small percentage of people ever will. Does this mean she doesn’t love you? Of course not. Does this mean she doesn’t believe you have the drive or intelligence to pull it off? Sometimes. But more than anything your girlfriend or wife has been programmed from birth to believe she’s the most important thing on earth and that any man who would put her at number two for “some silly business idea” doesn’t deserve her. So what happens next? Once she doesn’t “feel the flame anymore,” she will more than likely cheat on you until she figures out that she doesn’t even have to be sneaky about it because you’re so preoccupied with getting your dream off the ground. Soon to follow will be the break up or divorce. Of course you will be devastated, heartbroken, and completely caught off guard. After all, you were working all those sleepless nights and investing your hard earned money not only for yourself but for the manifestation of your dreams that she would also benefit from. Wouldn’t it just be easier to stay single, sleep around freely, and pursue your dreams without worrying about who you may be neglecting? Many men have found out the hard way that it’s extremely difficult to achieve major accomplishments while carrying the burden of companionship. If you have lofty goals of entrepreneurship, adventure, travel, etc make sure you stay single until you can look yourself in the mirror and feel satisfied with your life accomplishments. Think of it like sports, you shouldn’t retire until you’ve got some championship rings on your fingers. Ultimately I feel worse for guys that never attempted to follow their dreams and let them dissolve in favor of Companionship. Consumerism The second division of the Matrix we must unplug from is consumerism. The dictionary definition of consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. I will expand on that definition with two different forms of consumerism the American man are often victims of. Goods/Services As men we are constantly bombarded with advertisements for body washes and shampoos that will make women want to rape us, cars that will instantly make even the lowliest of nerds as cool as Steve McQueen, expensive clothes that will make us resemble models regardless of our beer guts, and expensive bottle service at the hottest club in town that will get the most gorgeous women to flock to us. All of these things are a mere attempt to exploit our inner desire for hot women. The problem with all these products is that they aim to bypass genuine self improvement in favor of a shortcut. Who doesn’t love a good shortcut right? The issue here is that shortcuts more times than not persuade us to spend money we don’t really have to look like something we’re really not. Ask yourself, who’s really winning here in the transaction? The guy who’s going to have to eat Ramen noodles for the next 2 weeks because he spent half his check on bottle service, or the old grey hair out of shape fart leaving the club in a Benz with three hot 24 year olds? It would’ve been much cheaper and rewarding to just buy Roosh’s game guides and develop a strict workout regime. In due time we will be able to drop a couple grand on bottle service and purchase sports cars without looking at the price tag, but we have to delay gratification long enough to achieve our dreams and ambitions first. The American society also gets in on the action as well. They call it “The American Dream.” I can’t tell you how many of my buddies successfully unplug from the Companionship Matrix only to fall victim to the Consumerism Matrix and buy some big ass expensive house they didn’t need because society said it was “smarter than renting”. Now they’ve unnecessarily anchored themselves to a city that might not present the best options for their success, along with owning a home that no longer is worth the value they paid for it. What happens next? Since they “feel so lonely” in that big ass house they take ten steps back and voluntarily plug into the Companionship Matrix. They find a spend-happy wife, have kids they aren’t really ready for because “her biological clock was ticking”, and now their flight to success and happiness is permanently grounded. The reason you can’t let this type of consumerism take control of you is because the money that consumerism coerces you into spending on “meaningless things” is the same capital that you could be using to fuel your dreams and ambitions. Essentially consumerism is a veiled thief, slowly stealing your dreams by giving you a quick dopamine rush. Tv/Media The things we tend to consume from the media whether it’s online, in a magazine, or on television play a pivotal role in keeping us plugged into the matrix and shaping our ideologies (politics included). Let me preface this by saying that I watch cable television. I have specific shows I tune into every week, and I am a huge lover of sports. The problem I find with most of my colleagues at work is that the majority of their conversations (95%) revolve around “what went down on last night’s episode” of XYZ TV show along with debates about sports teams that get so intense you would think they had a family member that played on the team. I never hear guys talk about what they like to do off the clock, or what projects and hobbies they’re working on. It appears to me that they’ve traded in what dreams they may have had in order to live vicariously through their favorite actors and athletes. Though I try to stick to watching shows that have some type of redeeming value in my life; I have my fair share of useless entertainment I consume like everyone else. We must keep this to a minimum. While we may be entertained sitting on our couches staring at the big screen while sipping on a good brew, we are essentially watching people who are being paid to live out their dreams right before our eyes. Do you really want to spend your precious time watching other people being paid to live their dreams, or do you want to go out and get your dreams off the ground? The Media Matrix (via ET, Access Hollywood, TMZ, etc) has tried to mind-fuck us into believing only athletes and celebrities deserve to live the playboy jet setter lifestyle. This is false. Athletes and celebrities are a drop in the bucket in comparison to the amount of hard working no names living life on their own terms with no limits. We have no limits but the ones we place on ourselves. This division of the Matrix aims to siphon your time by keeping you distracted and unconsciously celebrating the successes of other people as if they were your own. Corporate America The third division of Matrix we must unplug from to be truly successful is Corporate America. This topic has been beaten to death to the point that we all should understand the importance of unplugging from the Corporate America Matrix. Most of us will need Corporate America at some point in our lives because we have bills to pay but to be frank, you company doesn’t give a fuck about you. They don’t care about your dreams, your bills, your pregnant wife, or the new house you just bought. Corporations exist solely to make the owner(s) and shareholders filthy rich and nothing else. Your company revenue could increase by 1 billion dollars in a year and all they would tell you is “great job guys, but I think if we dig a little deeper this year we can surpass last year’s revenues”. You think they’re going to give you a cut of that big pie you help bake? You think a 3% raise is going to change your life with inflation at 2%? Your “REAL JOB” is to fuck your company for the most money you can and leave to pursue you dreams. Treat your job like a slut that you would discard when she’s no longer bringing you the same pleasure she once did. What about all the great friends I made at my job? Fuck them. I mean that in the most respectful way possible. If your colleagues want to drink the corporate Kool-Aid and build their lives on a shaky foundation, let them. It’s not your job to save the world, save yourself first and they will see the light if they want to. By no means is everything in this article an absolute for everyone reading it. If you are the exception consider yourself lucky instead of calling me a dick for not considering the outliers. For the rest of us, it should be in our plans to unplug from all three divisions of the Matrix to give ourselves the best shot at a happy and successful life. I understand not everyone reading this article will be in the position to unplug completely, but it is better to unplug from one or two of the three divisions than none at all. You will be happier and most likely more successful than 95% of your male counterparts who are hopelessly plugged it. Source of the text: http://www.returnofkings.com/40432/the-3-divisions-of-the-matrix-you-must-unplug-from

External environment may lend a bit of support in your endeavour. Idk... maybe 5%, give or take. However, most of the work needs to originate and done from within, thereafter to be carefully tended, much like a gardener tending to a plot. In the wish for a good harvest, a gardener does not go sit endlessly amidst a bountiful plot in a neighbouring valley and wait for results, although he should visit now and then, to draw inspiration, reflect, learn, intimate, and dream.

A charm hung off the Chain: Alright, Taomeow, what is it that you saw, heard, smelled in that crazy dream? In that crazy dream, an alien jellyfish floated in the sky.* (*True story. I pay attention to my dreams because I don't get any mundane ones. It's either a vision, or nothing. So -- an alien jellyfish, lights, colors, the whole nine yards of realistic dream-vision, and a messenger. When I woke up, I punched in "jellyfish UFO dream" in the search engine and got some 350,000 hits. Including one that did make the news at one point -- in Russia, in the 70s... not the dream of course that made the news, the actual alien jellyfish in the sky! A whole city witnessed it... I don't know if the article is available in English, or if I'll be lucky to find it among those hits once again, but I might try...)

The OP had shared a vivid and inspiring dream he had experienced. Too bad he had it deleted after having a second thought.

Thanks for the video Infinity . all you statements above are very true. In the 5th dimension, as it compares to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd and 4th for example. Is dream like . It can be a good dream or a bad dream depending on which direction you travel up or down the double vortex. Its the top of the top or the bottom of the bottom and there is no 6th . Some scentitst say theres a parallel universe? yes and no . its one univrse that has duality within it. But there most certainly is upwards and downwards direction there is yang direction and yin . Together they make 1. In order for there to be a beginning at 1 there must be an end and it ends at 5 . its a legal matter that has its origin at 1, The 5th IS Total freedom of choice . Ive got my foot in its door right now but im limited by the negativity of the 3rd dimension There is no freedom more free that total freedom of choice. You can have what ever , when ever , how ever and with who ever . The universe is yours to do with what you please. Its your universe , you create it , change it , bend it and vanish it . TOTAL freedom of choice. and its all govered by the basic set of duality Its true heaven and true paradise. now you go the other direction down ? lets not go there. YIKES !!!! in the lower vortex there in much pain and in the upper votex there is much pleasure . The lower votext sees the truth as lies and lies as lies the upper see lies as truth and truth as truth and . Hence the phenonina of me and you and Brian and SW Id love to use your black and white avatar too. ? Can you host a gif image of the double vortex so I can link it here ? Holla!! at cha boyee Anyone else have questions or comments? is there a better way to determine whats yang and whats yin ?

To be quite honest the images are most likely Jungian Archetypes. I have had recurring dreams of water, women and snakes all in the same dream for years. These are as Jung put it, motifs, in which the subconscious is wanting further attention. Instead of trying to rid yourself of it, write, draw, paint or even Gestalt can be quite rewarding.

Just woke up from a dream where a female entity demoness or dark goddess was laughing in a dark twisted sort of way. I am already chanting lotsa spiritual mantras. Looking to boost my defences with spiritual shielding warding magick.

I'm writing this raw, so I'll probably edit it a few times. I'm putting it in the Articles section because Burning Man has a very Tao Bums vibe to it and I encourage others to experience it. Last year. I opened an email account I no longer used and among the 1000 unread messages was 'ARE YOU READY, WE BURN IN 5 DAYS!!'. No I wasn't. I'd joined the Burning Man newsletter years ago. I'd always wanted to go, but life, marriage, kids and a twinge of fear always kept me away. Let me back up try to explain what Burning Man (BM) is. Its an event, an experimental city built in the middle of the Nevada desert for one week. People from around the world come to it (the biggest minority being Californians). In some ways the only rule is there is the Golden One. No commerce allowed, no buying or selling anything (except drinks(nonalcoholic) at the center tent. It is a gift economy and you are expected to generously share with others but also be self sufficient. The book 'Pronoia' writes about it glowingly as the best last bastion of human freedom. A place where people go to build there Utopia' How could a person not want to go there. A few warned me it was a just a place to do drugs, others disagreed, saying it was a place to discover yourself, find and live out your artistic passion. The theme for the year was Evolution. I mentioned it to my wife. She disregarded it. That night I dreampt of Burning Man, woke up the middle and was able to slip back into it. That's rare for me. I spent the next day thinking about the possible trip, fuming that I probably wouldn't go. That night I told my wife I really want to go. She looked at the calendar, said if I was going to go, this would be an ideal time since the kids just started school, but didn't have any activities. This was the end of 4 day (to go). I hadn't really expected to be doing it. I spent day 3 trying to decide if I should and if I did how I'd get there. From Chicago it was about 1700 miles. If I flew I couldn't bring all the camping equipment I needed, and if I bought it there I couldn't bring it back. Driving take 3 days. There were many Must-Have-Lists available on the internet. Most were at least 200 items long. I noticed woman's lists had 4 gallons of water a day, whereas men's had only 2 gallons. Obviously woman were wasting water on such things as bathing. If you want adventure you have to travel. Online I purchased a ticket, $300 to be picked up at will call in Nevada. I bought some camping supplies and headed off half assed with one day to go from Chicago to the alkaline desert 1700 miles away. I left at 5:00 in the morning. I woke my wife up and kissed her goodbye. Walking out the door I felt a little put off that she hadn't gotten out of bed and sat down for a good bye coffee or something. It was a long trip and I'd certainly driven her 30 miles to the airport whenever she'd needed to fly. My bit of anger and its questionable justification would weigh on my mind during the long drive. I'd stopped at the library earlier and took out some audio CD's for the trip. One of them was a long college Philosophy course. I made it through 2 hours of listening to 'What is Proof, before I answered 'What is Boredom' and took it out. I also had 9 hours of Adyashanti CD on True Meditation. This was more up my alley. There were some good concepts in it. He particularly had my number when he discussed how too many meditators would go directly into trance state and bypass the everyday mind, and that is a big mistake. True meditation is not the trance, it has to be found and reconciled within the confines of the everyday mind. I listened to radio, moving in and out of local stations every 30 minutes. Lots of fundamentalist Christian radio, I'd listened, it to give me something to focus and fume at. Driving through Iowa and Nebraska was visually boring. I made good time that day. I made it all the way to the Colorado border where I found a cheap hotel and stayed the night. Waking up I was still 1000 miles away and the BM festival was starting. Colorado was visually stimulating. I turned off the radio and drove with my thoughts, still on the same highway I took out of Chicago. I thought about where I was in life, what I'd accomplished and the mistakes I've made. I called home a few times to let them know I was fine and so the kids could update my location on map. The beauty of Colorado faded as I approached the desertlike scrub of Utah. There was occasional burst of beauty, and I think I saw a herd of wild gazelles. Once on the phone I passed a broken down car. I think it had Burn or Bust sign on it, but I was going 75 mph and didn't stop. That weighed on me. BM is supposed to be about community, joining a tribe, reigniting the caring impulse that civilization keeps dormant. I decided I wouldn't let it happen again. I made it over the Continental Divide, my ears popping from the heights and at times my hands a little too tight on the wheel. With the Sun on its way down I made it to Salt Lake City. I thought about staying there but pushed on, the drive so steeply downwards I coasted at highway speeds in neutral gear and moved toward the salt flats to the east. The flats were remarkable, they seemed like a desert w/ a few inches of salt water on top of it. Flakes of salt flew up like snow as you drove. The water gave way to flat hard desert. With the sunset I made it to Nevada and bill boards screamed, 'Come to our Casino', how could I resist. There were casino hotels and I walked through them and picked the cheapest. I treated myself to an extravagant buffet dinner, then gambled, losing $90 quickly. That bothered me, gambling is a losing affair, but it can be done more intelligently, money management being the key to playing longer. One section had betting on various horse races around the country. One race had 2 early disqualifications so only 4 horses were running, an unusually small number. Two were clearly favorites, but their pay offs were low. Still there's a certain bet where you pick the first and second place winner; that one had a 100% payoff. I made it and won. A little excitement before camping. There were late shows, strip clubs but I called it a night. This was in part a spiritual quest and I'd already strayed too much. I had missed day one of BM, maybe that was a good thing, 10's of thousand of people coming in meant lines of hours. Plus I'm not really into camping, much less in the desert. I got up early and headed out, 250 miles to go. Nevada was scrub and canyon. Ahead I saw a person walking the highway, they looked like something out of Mad Max. It was near desert and I weighed whether I should stop, maybe he was going to burning man? By the time I made the decision I was half a mile ahead of him. I stopped the car on the side of the road and waited. Thinking about it I was still a 100 miles away from BM. Maybe he wasn't heading there. He didn't have his thumb out. The Mad Max look came from a tarp he had rolled up and hitched across his shoulders, giving him wings that stretched out 2 feet to his sides. I waited for him, then got out of the car and walked down the highway to meet him. His name was Michael (like mine), he wasn't going to BM, he was heading, walking(!) to Southern California to spend the winter. He was a bum, maybe I should say tramp since that has less negative connotations. A long time ago I lived out of a back pack for months. I can respect the decision to live a life of freedom. He was in his 50's. He was heading in my direction so I offered him a ride, he excepted. He had few possession but had 4 multi gallon water bottles that must have weighed at least 30 pounds altogether. It was close to 90 degrees and he was hiking through the desertlike scrub with at least 40 pounds of weight. I enjoyed talking to him. He'd been homeless for years. He described how he survived in the desert, mostly eating ramen noodles. He told me about his family whom he hadn't seen in years. Where he'd camp. How the scrub was filled with tender that burned white hot. I told him a little about myself, we shared a dislike for radio preachers and right wingers. He seemed like a good sort. His life style was by choice, much freedom along w/ ascetic hardship. We drove about 60 or 70 miles, then his route went one way, mine went another. I dropped him off at a rest stop where the highway split. He didn't ask, but I gave him some bottles of gatorade and $40. He thanked me, it would keep him in ramen for a while. As he walked away I felt ashamed I didn't offer more. I'd spent that much on dinner the previous night, not to mention losing twice that in the casinos. I had a feeling I'd have learned more following him and his lifestyle for a week then I'd learn at Burning Man. Course the first lesson would be I wasn't tough enough to hike miles in the desert w/ a pack. For me the big question is whether there's a god in control and whether it gives a damn about us. I hope in deep meditation to get my answer. Til then its nice to have synchronicities like meeting another Michael who is so different yet similar to shake up my perceptions. I drove on, an hour later I thought I was at Burning Man but was only at the nearest town. BM was another 60 miles away and it was already afternoon. I filled up on water and uncharacteristically on beef jerky which I'd started to enjoy. I was finally off the highway I'd been on for two days. The rest of the route would be on country roads through an Indian reservation. Along the road were little stands offering churros and tacos that looked good. I was now part of an increasingly long caravan of cars, trucks and RV's and didn't want to leave the road. In the distance tall dust devils spun like mini tornadoes. It got slower and slower as we approached, finally queing up in one of a dozen car lines before the entrance. There was a pull off for people who had tickets at will call I took it. I got out of my car and stepped onto the alkaline flat. It was 90 degrees with hot wind whipping up white dust to near white out conditions. This might not be as easy I thought. Goggles were one of the 100 things I didn't bring from the Must-Have list. I got in a relatively short line, gave a person at the booth my name, and got my shiny ticket and itinerary booket on what was going on (&where) each day. I got back in my car, drove back into line and cued up for the initiation ritual that newby virgins got before entering BM. When I got to the head of the line I was greeted by two men in dresses. They were the volunteers who got people ready and psyched for the BM lifestyle. They asked me a few questions, went over the rules and tried to give me an understanding of the layout of the city I was about to enter. There were free boutiques inside where I could get proper clothes. They told me BM would have about 45,000 people. They asked if I had any drugs in the car. Had me scream a few affirmations, then scream them again louder. Finally I hit the entry bell a few times signaling a BM virgin was joining the tribe. I rolled into Black Rock City, this years BM. The dust storm was still going on. Despite the dust the ground was rock hard. The city was round, shaped like a bike wheel with roads A-Z leading to the center and others labeled with evolutionary names A through Z circling out in rings. Half was the inhabited, the other half was the Playa, open land containing huge art projects, like the giant 3 story Temple and Wooden Burning Man Statue. I had no idea where to go,but spotted a few R.V.'s parked in a U shape. I stopped next to them and asked the people nearby if I could park there. They said no problem. So I did 2 smart things. I used there RV's to protect me against the dusty wind, and when I set up my tent I drove over the bottom tarp so it couldn't get blown away. Setting up the damn tent in the dust, heat, rock hard ground was not fun. I was a poor dust cropper surrounded by fancy folk who lived in RV's with amenities like air conditioning, hot food, water and something called electricity. I introduced myself. The 3 couples had known each other for a while and it was not there first BM. I'm 45, they were a few years older then me and from California. They seemed very nice. We took a group picture. The woman to my side faced me and turned to pose with her leg raised and thigh on my lap. I'm just a simple Midwesterner, and generally we're protective of our personal space, but being a squatter means getting along and I didn't complain. I pulled up a chair and indulged in their wine as a dust storm blew around us. As we talked a naked woman pushing a naked man in a wheel barrow came by. Another sign we weren't in Kansas anymore. One of the RV'ers grabbed a camera and the naked couple graciously posed for them. Not that I'd consider them photo worthy as they were older then we were and perhaps a bit more uh rounded. Still they seemed happy and as long they were smart enough to cover up w/ sun screen god bless'em. The dust died down and I went exploring. There was a post apocalyptic vibe to the place, but an optimistic one. Like, the end is here, lets party. In the vast city there RV's, tents, and fantastic make shift structures. Domes covered with beautiful multicolored clothes, others topped with white styrofoam like oversized igloos. The inner areas had group camps that were little city's within themselves. People were in unusual states of dress and undress. Like my greeters there was a strong contingent of cross dressing around. Later I'd see there were several free shops for picking up colorful garments. As an Aikidoist I've spent years running around in a long black skirts (hakama), but as a man I need pockets, thus never really considered any fancy garbs or going without. The bicycles going up and down the hard clay streets were amazing, decorated as insects or hot rods. There was a group there armed with blow torches who would elongate bikes fronts making them chopper style. One monster bike was a 4 person take off on a Hummer, complete w/ 4 wide tires and orange paint. The mutant vehicles were even more amazing. Many had space themes, I saw star wars hover machines (had wheels), Apollo capsules, a motorized couch run steered by the joy stick on the side. These were amazing, but they were nothing compared to what would come out at night. I walked to the tent at the main center of the city. It was a huge open aired circus tent. They were 3 stages in it, not counting the spacious center. Each stage had couches and chairs around them. The center had a few couches, but mainly pillows of all sorts. In the center was a soft 6 foot ball covered in teddy bears. Not only am I not making this up, but the giant teddy ball is indicatative of the playful spirit of the event. Young kids were roll it around. Older daredevils would leap on top of it and get spun off. The tent had the only commerce around. They sold coffee, iced coffee and a gatoradelike drink. The first few days it wasn't horribly crowded, the acts in the tent were generally excellent. Most of musicians were professional and gave out free CD's after they sang. One talented folk singer said at the end of her act 'I have CD's for $10 ..' and was immediately questioned and booed, til she said 'whoops forgot where I was, I have FREE CD's for you.' The tent was filled inside and out w/ art work. Drawings some of them interactive, some large impressive statues, many w/ electronics, free coloring books and write in books. A third of the time there were classes taking up all or part of the center space. One was tantric dance, I think the group was connected to TantraNova which has a location in Chicago. They showed an intimate circular dance where the bodies are always in contact, rolling around each other. They encouraged people to join in. I was tempted, but I didn't want to scare anyone off by my invitation. It was enough to sip iced coffee and watch. Always the chance being approached by middle aged slightly over weight male is not a girls dream. Though maybe it is, and some girl somewhere is writing now about the fat gent who got away. Later there would be capoeira demonstrations there. Capoeira is probably the most entertaining martial arts to watch, with its music, danceforms and dynamic kicks. There were American showing off what they knew, but when a small South American guy joined in, the difference was night and day. Knowing how to play vs Mastery. I spent the evening walking around. Near the center hub were the big groups w/ special projects. Some had theater, bars (one nudes only), the hang out, which was filled w/ a dozen hammocks. I discovered Black Rock city was only half filled w/ tents, the other half was the Playa, a vast area filled with unbelievable things. Major pieces of art, the giant burning man sacrifice, the 3 story built-to-burn temple, lots of absolutely mind blowing stuff. We're talking full size (25 ft) rocket (which would later be exploded), 14 foot computer controlled rubic cube, giant beautiful statues of woman w/ chains for hair that would burst into flames at night. A freakin sledding hill made w/ green plastic carpet. You'd climb up it helped by rope, then grab some corrugated boxes and use them to slide down, usually into elaborate pillow structures people on the bottom would make. At night the big mutant vehicles came out. Huge galleons based within double decker buses. Many fire breathing custom vehicles of all sizes, blowing fire. Sci fi, fantasy, vehicles of all kinds represented. No cars were allowed, only what was strange and they had to be certified. It was a freaky overload world there. I was tired, went to bed at 12:00, woke up at 3:00 and headed back to the central tent. Lots of people there, one or two musicians playing. In the center court jugglers held sway, many w/ bolo's practicing and working out routines. During the big burns the balls would be lit on fire and they needed to be precise. I talked to one guy who said he'd been up 42 hours cause theres so much to see. I believe him. I'd only seen a fraction of the place and it was amazing. All around the tent were people who were crashed. I headed back to the tent and fell asleep. I was woken a few times by loud sounds, horns, the bright morning light. I tried to keep sleeping but there was no way. The nearest washrooms, portapotties were a half mile away. I had my portable bike and headed to them then back to the main tent. I got the low down on classes and exhibits that were going on. The days kinda ran together. It probably didn't help that I spent so much time in bars. Nearby my tent some guys had set up a small bloody mary bar. I rarely passed them without getting a homemade drink. It only had 5 seats, usually had an empty one. They served one drink, gourmet bloody marys. I've never been into them but I know quality when I taste it. Each drink was made by hand, including real horseradish and bitters, premium vodka, no mix was used. The best part of the drink was the pickled asparagus. For me they tasted best light on the alcohol and spices, two asparagus stalks please. A larger more social bar I liked was the Koi bar, large and beautifully decorated w/ gold fish swirling around on top. Again we're in the desert camping and there's this beautiful bar set up in the open. The bartender and people there were very friendly and they served a variety of drinks and if your timing was right, food!. Again not too crowded. I think it may have been a gay leaning bar, but I have no local sense of gaydar so I'm not really sure. One funny episode happened there. I was drinking and scrounging some bacon sandwiches from them. A few of he guys thought it would be funny to bring them down the road to the PETA group. Note they weren't exactly PETA, but they were very close and had a fairly large campsite and exhibits that you saw as walked past. As you walked past they had pictures of farm animals which read 'I'm a Mother, I'm a Sister, I Feel'. I'd talked to one of the girls there about my son who is a vegetarian, she gave me some good pointers and let me know she'd be spending the night naked wrapped in plastic in a mock food container. She did this to protest the meat industry, god bless the young. Anyway the bar group forgot they wouldn't be heckling simple vegetarians, they'd be pissing off militant vegans. They came rushing back 15 minutes later with stories about how they almost got there asses kicked by the crazies there. I loved it. I later saw the young woman in her performance art display. Naked, wrapped in plastic in a large faux meat packaging. Looking at her you didn't think Meat Bad, rather Woman Good, when do they unwrap her? Another favorite bar was Sharkies. Lots of shade, nice people. Sharkie made only one drink a day, in 5 gallon batches, he had a strict policy of bring your own cup. Good stuff, pretty strong. One day it would be Zombies, the next XXX Pain Killers, though I never thought his drinks were quite as strong as advertised. In the middle of the day, through in sweltering heat, nothing tasted better. And bless him, if the timing was right he gave away hot sandwiches. One afternoon there was an under tone of possible violence. Some of the 'regulars' were talking about a young tough who was threatening and causing trouble the day before, a real asshole. As soon they stopped a biker type walked into the veranda. Bald, tattooed, sleeveless t-shirt, by the looks I could tell this was the guy they were talking about. There was a moment of silence then one the group, a Jerry Garcia type, walks up and says 'How you doing, whats up..Let me get you a drink..'. A perfect preemptive move. Totally defuses the situation and its back to mellow. One of things discussed was people slipping drugs, Mickies, into drinks. I was under the assumption that it was a BM urban myth, but they had some reports of people taking drinks and either passing out or getting wiped out for a few hours. The consensus was these were douche bag pranksters, very rare, but it was a reality. Another concern moving through the bars at the other extreme were police stings on serving the under aged. Apparently some places were being closed down w/ the owners facing heavy fines. This was unprecedented in BM past. Once or twice I was offered drugs, I turned them down. I have enough vices without adding to them. A very cool bar that I didn't visit too often, but was fascinated by was the S & M Wine Bar. They played fabulous funny music. I wish I had there play list, every song was raunchy and hilarious. Before ordering a drink you rolled 3 dice and had to do something sexual and degrading to get it. Things like 12 push ups topless, or bottomless, so many spankings w/ a paddle. I noticed the woman ahead of me had to roll the dice, so did the girl behind me. I was not asked, ah to be old, but I did get my merlot . There were hundreds of organized groups at BM. There was a Jewish group that sponsored meditation, Shabbat dinner etc. I tried to make it to there events but never found them, or got side tracked. In one of my searches for them I found a fabulous Denver group. Their campsite included small wooden houses, a deck for yoga, a nice bar. One of there charities/art forms was free albeit naked showers, it attracted some knockout woman. As I walking past them admiring the set up I was invited in by one of the leaders, another Michael. We talked and drank. They also offered free pastie any woman who cared and dared. The pastie of the day had little propellers on them. Think of nerdy beanie caps for nipples. As we talked a well endowed woman came in and Michael painted her nipple with a latex glue and capped it w/ a beanie pasty. A female Denverite came by and pooed, pooed and said he used the wrong size, a medium when the nipple needed a large. But the woman was happy w/ it or didn't like the thought of it being pulled off. Another Denverite put out a sign that said free hand massages for the next 2 hours. I let them know I had experience (true, 10 week course CSMT) in massage and I'd be happy to act as one of the masseurs. I was accepted. We used moisturizing lotion instead of oil. My third customer was a topless beauty who went by Gaia, she was so appreciative of the hand massage I offered to do her feet. As I cleaned them and lotioned her up she groaned loudly. By the end of the massage she was motionless and her chair was moved away to a shady spot. I can't take full credit but sometimes the right technique at the right time can have that effect. I gained a reputation for massaging so well that ladies passed out. After that business was good. My next customer was a full body paint job. She was sunset and flowers from neck to toe, Gaugin meets tequila sunrise. She was a beautiful hairless canvas. I was thorough, professional and loved every inch. We don't get to do these things in the Midwest. Nearby the Denver site was the Purple Haze a busy bar and dance site. It had non stop misters that cooled off the dancers. It rocked, but I was a little old for it and felt out phase with it. Same thing with the late night Raves they had. A couple hundred people standing close and pulsing. I tried but I wasn't in the same spirit so moved on. One amazing event was the full size Mad Max Thunderdome. If you didn't see the movie it was a post apocalyptic place where people fought to the death. Physically it was a large, a 40 or 50 foot geodesic dome. People climbed all over the structure to see the action inside. If they fell from the top, they'd be needing an ambulance or morgue. Two contestants were strapped into harnesses w/ long rubber cords. They were given a choice of soft padded weapons, swords, two pillowed staffs and the like. A tall leather clad dominatrix was the announcer. The two 'warriors' sometimes guy/guy girl/girl or small guy/ large woman would be pulled backwards til they were stretched out at opposite ends, then let go to smash into each other in midair. Then some not so playful combat would begin. With the bungie cord harness they could do monster jumps and midair flips. When combat bogged down the contestants would be separated and relaunched at each other. Again something we don't have here. The spectators, particularly those balancing on top were at a greater risk then the fighters. Each night it drew a huge crowd. So big it was hard to get a good view. The fighting was fierce, I wouldn't want to be a contestant, not that I was asked. Other Oddities. During the day watering trucks sprayed the streets in an attempt to keep the dust down. Naked people followed them trying to get a quick shower. One night in the main tent a group did the play Godspell. Very professional, great voices and staging; they must have been done it together before. It was unusual to see topless disciples and Jesus bald and covered in blue paint. One group had a theater which showed comically redubbed movies. I watched Harry Potter w/ a hilarious over dubbing. Other places had cunning psychedelic light shows. One tent had giant mega-oversized furniture as there art. There was the naked man bike ride which attracted a few dozen (not me, not enough sunscreen). There was the bunny invasion which had a hundred or so rabbit dressed people rush the main stage w/ signs like down with war up with carrots. One Night in Black Rock. On my third night there was a major burn. Smaller then the famed Burning Man effigy & the large temple, but it was still a house sized bond fire. Before it was lit the area was cordoned off. Fire dancers came out and performed within the restricted area. Most had exotic costumes and used lit bolos, balls of flame on rope. A few used batons. They were daring and talented, drawing arced pictures in the dark. When they stopped the building was lit. The dancers had whet our appetite for fire and this was a 10 course meal. The fire spread and grew and grew. Those of us in the front row were forced to move back. The fire reached up 30, 40 feet. I found the flames on at the bottom particularly fascinating. The intense heat caused waves to ripple along the bottom, as though the fire was liquid. It was like a window into another elemental universe. The intense heat shortened the burns life, it was consumed within an hour. I headed off into dark toward the main tent a mile or two away, in a certain reverie from the event. I stopped at one of the fire art works. An out door fire pit, made of iron and cut to allow light to shine through intricate symbols. It wasn't large and there was a pile of fire wood next to it. I found a log and sat on it and watched the flames. There was a poet reading and a family listening. The man I took to be the father was short, trim, wearing a dark leather vest and an outfit like a subdued bull fighter. The woman was taller, dark hair, open shirt, leather skirt. There were two kids. A boy maybe 11 and a younger sister of about 7. They had an Adams Family jibe to them, the kids less so. The woman was enraptured by the poem being read. Literally swaying to the words as if they were music. I found the poem a bit trite and cliched. Finishing the poet bowed and walked away. The woman was still clearly in awe of it. I told her 'You are the one who makes the poem great. It was was your listening that gave it power.' I meant it, the poem didn't effect me, but watching her reaction to it did. She smiled appreciatively. The man, I assume her husband was doing tai chi inspired movements toward the fire. Like the fire in the pit was a dance partner, pulling and pushing towards it. Franz Bardons descriptions of Fire Salamanders came to mind. The boy emulated his father, but the power of the movement wasn't as evident. It's not hard to fake Tai Chi, but it can't be done balanced on one leg. There were movements he did on one leg that had flow and precision. I found his moves as interesting as his wifes reaction to the poem. When he ended I complimented him on the power of his movements and he bowed graciously. Here and now they were in there element, I don't know how people like this live in the outside world. I hope they had there nitch and thrived. Before they walked away the mother gave me a small leather pouch. I thanked her and wished I had something to give in return. They left and I put it in my pocket without opening it. I continue to sit, the log making a good zafu. A young woman came by. She asked me if I was the Guardian of the Flames? (Sounds like something out of a Ghostbuster movie, but honestly it happened) I said no. Seemingly ignoring my answer she asked if she could throw some rose petals into the cauldron? I said 'Yes'. We talked a little bit and she went away. I threw some logs into the fire to keep it burning. A couple comes by, they begin to kiss by the fire. I stop them and move them away. The woman's long dress was getting dangerously close to the flames. I guess I was a Guardian of the Flames of a sort. Classes. I just found the Burning man booklet that was given when you got your ticket. Here is a sample of classes, Repeating Tues Events. Tasty NOodles 1-5 @ Camp OObleck -Rock away music dancing & cooling Mists. DarWeenie Camp 1-3 New Age fun, food frolic w/ weenies, lemonade & WhoreShoe (??)toss Burning Tarot Readings- Miss Magdalen read better w/ chocolate, wine and Whiskey. So You Want to Tie People - A workshop Energy & Body Work Conspiracy Theory Discussion Group So You Think Your Hot- Chili tastings Bloodade n' Lube Confessional - (no idea) but there were supplies for necro hobbies Sharpie Body Art Salon Spontaneous story creation Bondage Rides (I quote) -Learn to fly! Explore the unique experience of being bound in rope and suspended in md-air. Become a work of art, or just come of the endorphins. Acoustic Rock and Folk Jam. These were pretty typical events. There was lots of Yoga(all types, some nude), kite flying, physics discussions, David Deida's work discussion, 20 or 30 classes a day listed in the What Where When booklet, w/ many more unlisted. I walked by a tent and was steered into a class on Kotodama, sacred sounds. I've always been had an interest in it. Good class, it had about 35 people sitting in a circle, less about chanting and more vowel work. Close to what I've done in the past under the Abulafia kabalic system. The teacher had some interesting points on how to aim sound that I'd never seen covered before. I don't buy into the New Age 'The Secret' philosophy, but there was a course on it, so I thought why not. If you only learn about what you agree with you become one sided. I'd got 3 important lessons from it. The large tent seemed very crowded so I decided to listen outside. The teacher kept encouraging more people to come in, when they hesitated she'd say this is a class on creating abundance, of course there was room. So they walked in and were crammed like sardines. During her lecture a nearby camp site started playing loud music. It must have been interfering with the lecture. I walked over and asked if them to turn it down. They did, but no one in the tent had come out to take action. They were either willing to suffer with it or trying to wish it away. So lesson number one was action is better then wishes. I wasn't the only one outside listening. I started talking to a person who'd just arrived. Soon people were staring at me with disapproval. I'd been creating a disturbance as bad as the one I'd solved. So lesson 2 is, without mindfulness you end up the cause the problems you despise. I would have shut up much sooner if the people around me had gotten my attention w/ a nudge. People aren't mind readers. This brought me back to the funk I was in when I left for the trip. The fact my wife hadn't given me a better send off. I didn't ask her too. If I had said come downstairs, lets have coffee before I go, I'm sure she would have. Too often we expect others to be mind readers; lesson number 3 is don't blame the people for not doing things when you don't ask. The universe requires a little bit of boldness. The night was rule by mutant vehicles. Moving Houses, Pirate Galleons, Fire breathing dragons, all manner of dressed up tricked out vehicles moved around the dark playa. So many it was dangerous to be without several light sources wrapped around yourself. I was able to hitch onto one craft and sat next to a group of overage frat boys who were passing out margaritas. Here's a BM hint, always have a glass available, in many situations its strictly BYOCup. Most of the large floats belonged to groups. I was on one and was asked to leave because it was group only at a certain time. Still, grabbing a ride on one is the best way to view the playa. There was double decker bus parked deep in the playa I climbed on, but it was empty. Maybe broken down. I enjoyed the view from the top. The figure of the Burning Man was like our Sphinx, it was covered with lights now, when its two massive arms were raised it meant the burn was going to happen. The 3 story Temple prominent on the horizon, like the Man it too would burn. As I watched a young woman dressed only in a loin cloth got on the bus and climbed to the top. She danced to the sound of distant music. In the past days I'd learned how to look at naked woman. Not to gawk or look away, but to appreciate them. Show admiration without lust. In the high desert alone on the bus stop, she danced I watched. It was a a magical moment, surreal. After a few minutes she hugged me and went away. For all the amazing moments I still had bouts of loneliness and melancholy. The burn out factor is high, everything get to be too much. Too much sensory overload. The heat drained, the high altitude sun sapped, the cold night air refreshed then chilled. I enjoyed connecting to people, but they'd come and go. I missed my family, my mundania. I left after the morning after the Big Burn. I had enjoyed the smaller one more. There was an edginess I had I couldn't get rid of, it was time to come home. The trip home was filled with suspense, murder and the super natural compliments of Stephen King. I'd taken Duma Key from the library and enjoyed all 15 discs and 17 hours of it. Burning Man may be this nations greatest unknown treasure. I'd recommend people try it. Go there with an open mind. Its a place where you can find or create anything. The gift economy part is wonderful. I was given authentic BM dog tags, various art work, bumper stickers, a vial of playa dust. The Adams-like family I met, when I opened the pouch later in my tent it contained an arrow head. I don't think I've exaggerated my experiences there. I've written about drinking, but in truth it would be rude to have more then 2 drinks at one place at one time, you don't want to over impose on peoples generosity. I'll often nurse a drink for a while. Maybe at times I over imposed, but in most of the time I was a good guest, shared my music via Ipod and what small rations I had with others. I made gallons of herbal ice tea and made it available to all. Tried to inform people of what was going on where. Things to know: Bring a bike, preferably a small cheap no speed. Burning Man is miles wide and you don't want to spend hours hiking. Bring a lock too. For the same reason try to camp in the middle. Closer to the main tent is better. I find tent living sucks, on the Burning Man newsletter there is the name of a place in California that rents small 15 to 21 foot mini RV's. That would be nice. If you have a truck with a commercial name on it, be aware it must be covered up, no logos allowed. Another perhaps more ideal way to experience BM is join a group, the big ones have kitchens (private meal plans), showers, comraderie etc. I was amazed at the intricacy of one cavernous site. I was told the builders were Hollywood set designers. One Burner told me the best way to start out was to sign up as volunteer and stay in Hushville, a quiet region. My area was relatively quiet, but we still had yocals blaring loud music as they sped by in mutant vehicles at all hours. I wish'd I'd brought goggles. I did pick up a sleep mask and air plugs on the way there, they helped a little. You need a collection of glow necklaces, flashlights and headlamps. The night playa is dark and dangerous with moving vehicles of all shapes and sizes. You need to be clearly visible. A few years ago a woman was run over while lying down star gazing alone on the playa. Another dark side was leaving BM. A few miles out there was accident a car off the road onto a ditch. Further down was very bad one, I think it was head on collision by people trying to pass on a one lane road. An hour later on the highway I passed a third bad accident. Michael

Yes, its very much like dream recall: In state its all very clear and remains so if you etch it in place but when you get into the real world it seems to gradually fade away. I'll try Zen Walking and see how that goes also great point about emotional food, so true. Agreed and even that is simply pointing toward what needs to be healed. Starve the ego, feed the soul.

Back from coffee... ] ... how could I resist. Be strong Michael... Goodnight... Dream on. - Anand

Depends on how you define "authentic". Does it work? Yes. Is it unique? Yes. Does it have lineage? Yes. Does it have history? Yes. If someone considers it a derivative of Taiji or other IMAs, technically speaking, the internal world is not that big, and there are both the potential for overlap and interaction with schools that influence one another. Chen Yiren and Wang Xiangzhai both influenced one another and in turn their student became the grandmaster of our lineage, bringing the principles of skill for the former and power for the latter while using Liuhebafa as the base form to express Xin Yi. Oh boy, this looks like several questions. People don't realize Taijiquan is a martial art and always has been, but there is Taiji the philosophy as well as Taiji the skill, and Taiji as the formal name for what people call the symbol "that yin and yang thing". Historically, in the most bastardized summary I've seen, what was taught in the Qing dynasty is the movements and forms, but none of the internal power, so that no foreign devils would have access to power or secrets. The delusion that it had power was a practical joke, and made worse a century later by the communist party of China promoting many "internal arts" that look closer to ballet choreography than the few masters and systems with actual internal power. What you see in the parks is derived from a bastardized version of an already watered-down practice that has almost no martial applications and uses platitudes that reveal the absence of any understanding or skill, and still gets worsened by advertising culture with things like Tai Cheng: https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/28585-tai-cheng-infomercial-2013-cheez-whiz-or-what. The people with actual skills, like Glenn Hairston, for example, get straight to the point about how and why Taijiquan works as a martial art. The Taiji taught for health isn't bad--it just isn't the Supreme Ultimate that people think it is, and that is fine, but only if they're after health as it has documented clinical benefits from helping with Parkinson's to recovering from chemotherapy, though it's closer to qigong than it is to a martial art, and one of my teachers knows both Taijiquan as a martial art and Medical Tai Chi. As people get lost in the details or misunderstanding which Taiji they are doing or even if their teacher is legitimate (i.e. knows what the hell they are talking about), a person who is learning Taiji for health but is really doing Tai Cheng is getting a Tae Bo workout, and a person who thinks they have ultimate power is probably like Jake Mace: Speaking only for the styles I know and practice, there's holistic work done. Some people do Baduanjin only, but don't sit in golden flower or stand in Zhan Zhuang, and some people who think they are doing Zhan Zhuang are just standing on a plank and balancing. For what I do, we breathe, we stand, we sit, we rest, we have forms, and we live life. Understanding is in the proper doing that leads to proper knowing. You can have proper knowing, but not have the proper doing or proper being. It's a common trick for masters to troll people who don't pass their character tests to get the right verbal explanation, but not teach them the actual correct way of applying the skill, such as someone teaching pranayama from a YouTube video they watched the morning earlier before meeting you in the afternoon and saying it's Tai Chi Breathing and an ancient indoor student technique. Depends on the lineage. I speak only for the Xin Yi Meditation school with Liuhebafa and for The Tao Applied with Taijiquan. I don't know what you mean by alchemy, but for sake of simplicity, alchemy is not the term we use in Xin Yi, we just call it the rewiring process, which starts from joints and tendons and all the way to muscles and fascia, then the organs and mind. In my Taiji lineage, the alchemy comes from several key meditations and a simple version of Taiji form based on the original form that wasn't even 13 moves. The martial spirit of what I have learned is deception through Liuhebafa and hiding intention, and from Taijiquan I've found gentle power and force through the application of the Taiji philosophy in physical movements, knowing that if I am pushing an opponent, I also have to pull in some regard, or if I strike, I must also defend simultaneously. Most of my understanding is expressed physically rather than verbally, which is why I just have people do the practices and ask questions before so I guide them progressively and slowly since the internal arts don't follow a strict linear progression as they are also tied to an individual's learning and body adapting. I have shared a few throughout the forum, but dream work is pretty common. Shuigong and Liuhebafa both share lineage with Chen Tuan in Hua Shan if that says anything...

I probably repost this every year. Its got some good advice from a solid traditional serious practitioner who has posted here. It covers things from thought (being on guard against sexualizing woman) to practical (don't use heavy blankets) to spiritual practice (do an 1 to 2.5 hours of meditation before bed) By Dao Zhen I think for serious students, this is a big hurdle to overcome. It is best to not get into the habit of gaining depression when an emission happens in sleep. It is natural, and go slow and do not force anything, nor become obsessed with "saving" jing. Keep practice, follow solid methods and guidelines. With time, all will become secure quite naturally. I have found the following to be a help for me in my practice. Yet this is by no means advise from an expert, as I have very little experience. In the tradition I am learning, it is generally accepted that a serious student is celibate. - Points to help prevent emission during sleep - 1. Change conditioned habits and patterns in regards to viewing and interacting with women - on the street, and in the manner we speak and deal with them in public situations - If we flirt, and have playful interaction with women, it may stir things up quite a bit, and cause trouble during sleep. Honor and respect women as your sisters in Tao, yet do not view them as sexual objects, nor project sexual fantasy on women. 1-a. Do not view pornography video, magazine, or sexual movies. 2. Diet. Do not over eat, and do not go to bed while full. I have found it best to eat the last meal of the day around 5pm or so. Also in the tradition I am learning, it is thought best to follow a simple vegetarian diet, with no spice, garlic, onion, scallion, chives, and cilantro. 3. Do not have very heavy blankets on the body that will create too much heat when sleeping. 4. Do not sleep on the stomach. Sleep on the back with one leg crossed over the other – hands resting below the navel, or on the right side with one leg tucked behind the bottom leg at the knee level – right palm cupping the ear – left palm below navel area. 5. The most important point I have found that helps is to sit for 1 - 2.5 hours or so in proper seated meditation practice before sleep. This is perhaps the most important point, and will yield the most results. In this tradition, we have a method to transfer Jing to Qi that is taught. It is termed - "Lighting a Fire", or "Burning a Soft Fire". It is very effective, and yields the effect of the Jing being transformed to Qi, and really is like something burns away and evaporates. There is great warmth generated in the Lower Dantian area that moves, and steams upward during the process in a manner that is very pleasurable and uplifting. One is left with a feeling of great expansion, and the sign that the Jing has been completely transformed, and it is safe to sleep is one has a feeling like a vast, expansive, clear blue sky. The sign that one has made some gain in transformation of Jing over a period of time, is generally one will stop to have dream activity. There is a great stillness in the sleep state, and no real strong dream activity. This is also related to the pattern of the Metal conquering Wood; Or the Po suppressing the Hun during the night. When the Hun is suppressed by the Po, it wanders away from the sphere of the liver, and the resulting experience is dreams. As Jing is transformed into Qi, and the Hun is strengthened, there is less and less dream activity during the sleep state. One sign I have also come to notice is that if I was lazy and just lie down for sleep without practice, there will be a feeling of something stirring in the lower Dantian, like a movement, or maybe even a worm or something is really moving and stirring. This is a sign that one will experience an emission during sleep, and it is important to have a strong will power, and sit up and cross the legs and sit to Burn the Soft Fire. It is also a good idea to get into the habit of getting up from sleep at any time in the night when you awake and there is a stirring in the sexual organ, or a strong erection. Just sit up, cross the legs, and lightly gaze over the Lower Dantian area and sit in stillness. In this system, they also teach a standing method of body movement, contraction and breathe retention in the first stages to strengthen the lower gate, to help prevent the emission during sleep. This stage does not last forever. It is as if the body and being is at first in a habit to let the liquid flow out, and loose the essence. Yet with slow and steady practice, the body and being learns another way. It becomes the natural state to preserve the essence, and no loss is experienced. It is an investment of time. So it takes a strong and steady will power. Constant and steady daily practice over a period of time. Persevere.

Thanks Bindi. You’re fortunate to have such strong dream guidance. I’ve had nothing like that, although, along with a number of teachers, Cleary’s Taoist I Ching has proved an excellent guide for me. And I’ve needed heaps of guidance. I’d have to say that I have no natural talent for life. My path of shedding unhelpful conditioned consciousness has been hard won through dealing with my general uncomfortableness with embodied life. Hence I’ve made and needed to work through countless errors. Some huge, such as a period of intense heroin addiction when I was younger. And in retrospect, such ‘errors’ have provided me with my greatest learning experiences. The stark choice, change or die. For me, Ming and Xing cultivation just means working with methods that better align both my body and mind with Dao. Although these are intricately intertwined and therefore not two, there’s clearly cultivation methods focused on each. For me, as someone who’d learnt through many years of education to overvalue thinking, qi gong type body focused practices were the most beneficial in my early years. But related theory has always helped me enormously, my understanding of it deepening with qi gong practice, my praxis deepening with my understanding. Now I’m comfortable using the whole of life as my alchemical cauldron. I’d say Spirit, the mind of Dao, tries to continually speak to us all through events in our lives, through feelings, but we can only adsorb it to the degree that we can let go of ego and surrender to its great wisdom. However, when I was younger my life was so out of harmony with Dao, everything was meaningless (or, at least, only superficially meaningful in culturally constructed ways.) I was free to do whatever I wanted, no spiritual guidance held me to a path. Now that’s not the case. My path becomes clearer as I get older and manage to improve my alignment with Dao. Clearer and hence narrower in the sense that I feel uncomfortable when I stray. Which, having written this, reminds me of how I noted the instructions for Neidan are intricate. So too I could say are instructions from Nature. Yet the more I’m able to stop interfering, the more they’re able to change me ‘self so’, spontaneously, effortlessly. So that intricacy becomes simplicity, just like the unfolding of nature.

gold, I've had similar dream experiences. When I was more into LD, I would look at my hands. For a while, my dream hands would melt. Then, eventually, after studying my hands all that time, my dream world would create it. No melting hands. When I meditate and am sleepy, I often "fall" into dreams for a few seconds. Over time, I've come to see that the dream image and the "real world image" are in essence the same. Stephen LaBerge has said that being awake is dreaming with conditions, i.e. the world. Dreaming at night is dreaming without conditions. Still dreaming, either way. With one exception that I've seen: dreams lack continued sensory clarity. When awake, there is a continued, moment-to-moment level of sensory clarity that is different from dreams. I don't think you can watch the seconds tick, one at a time, for a several minutes in a dream. Either the sensory clarity will fade or the dream image will shift. This is of course my experience, and yours might vary.

Imagine dreaming you're a butterfly. When is it no longer a dream ? It reveals that our conscious and subconscious create a dichotomy but once you are awake and can dream or asleep and yet be awake shows these two sides are really closer than we realize. If I plant a flower in universal consciousness can you see or find or feel or experience its growth?

You are your mind and your consciousness, but these two wouldn't exist without a brain. As soon as your brain dies, your mind and consciousness cease to exist. The only purpose of the body is to feed with fuel the brain. That's why you have organs. Your consciousness can exist without body parts that are not vital but cannot exist without vital organs. If just one of your vital organs fails, your whole life including mind and consciousness cease to exist. Just that simple. If you think your consciousness exist without a body because you can dream or you can have visions, think deeper. You wouldn't dream anything without your body being functional. There are not such things as spirits, ghosts, angels, demons, immortals... they are all fantasies of the mind, they are illusions of the brain.

Honestly, I believe with the way he presents himself on YouTube, he is claiming to be quite advanced. He might not call himself a sage outright, but... The clothes really aren't the big problem, though I made fun of them when he first showed up in a reactionary manner. The problem is when somebody who has not really received teachings takes to a high platform to hold a megaphone, as it were, and preach home-baked understandings. When one adds to this the establishment of some sort of organization devoted to the glory of a disembodied voice... complicated, complicated. At any rate, although "Lord" Josh Allen is at the center of this conversation, I am not all that concerned with how he turns out. I am not under any illusions that I am going to sway him with my message board posts, especially since he disregarded the lists of common Daoist warnings about ghosts, demons, and playing with spells that I typed up. The posts I am writing are for those newbies who know next to nothing about Daoism, but feel a draw to it and may watch Josh Allen videos and conclude, "ah, so this is what Daoism is all about." I can only use the term human wreckage to describe what I have seen of some unfortunate people who have thrown in their lot with the wrong kind of "Daoist" teacher. Such outcomes are tragic; being better informed might help some people avoid them. I do accept the possibility that Josh Allen is really being guided by an actual Daoist immortal. Such things do happen, just like some people digging in their flowerbeds unexpectedly bang their spades against nuggets of gold. Tolerance is good. I admit that I was intolerant of Josh when I made fun of him. Since talking with Steve in this thread I have been careful and have shared with him lessons repeated to me by Daoists in three different lineages in three different countries. They might not suit him and they might seem like they're intended to take the wind out of his sails... But let me tell you, having a Daoist teacher involves having a lot of wind taken out of your sails! A responsible teacher tends to hear a lot of "wow, master, yesterday I was meditating and then ________________________ happened! Amazing, right?" Then the teacher gives a bland reply like "forget it," and possibly patiently explains why such a manifestation is of little or no meaning and should definitely not be latched upon. To a beginner, this can be very disappointing! We want to be special, we felt qi, we saw a spirit, we had a prescient dream--why does the Daoist wave this all off with utter disinterest? To the student who sticks with it, the wisdom in this approach gradually becomes more and more apparent. Also, regarding nomenclature, I say this with seriousness to suggest a different viewpoint, not to take a jab at you. You have spoken about the gay community many times in this forum. That is a community that has taken nomenclature quite seriously (and rightfully so, I would add). The gay community's experience with epithets and labels can be one reminder of how important a label or name can be, and why people might find it important to seek clarity in definitions. There's actually an awful lot "in a name," even if names are "just words." Those who practice magic surely also realize this--this aspect of language is probably one of the bases for why spells can even work at all (not that I know for certain, I do not practice any magic).

To get back to this: Liver and Gallbladder have a lot of relationship to eyes and ears, this is because the Liver releases its excess through the Gallbladder and its channel. A standard symptom of Liver excess is high pitched tinnitus, and over sensitivity of vision and hearing are associated with Liver/Gallbladder problems. Now, just some general observations based on what you have described so far. If this person you have in mind was a demanding, demeaning boss, who constantly berated and bullied you, then the idea that over time you would develop a fearful attitude to him, as well as feelings of anger and frustration related to him seems reasonable. If in letting go of the fear issues that you mentioned, you also let go of some of the inhibitions that kept have kept this anger and frustration "locked up", because to express it would be harmful to your work situation, then the anger and frustration, which are associated with Liver and by extension Gallbladder, may have also come to the surface, possibly even in the image of the dream wolf as a symbol of this old boss, whose dream attack on you mirror your bosses attacks on you, then this may help explain a good part of what has been going on. That doesn't mean that there aren't "psychic attack" levels going on, because a person who in rage is yelling at you, is projecting an awful lot of negative qi, and if they dwell on this, they can unconsciously create "thought blobs", which don't deserve the name "thought forms", which can be mildly harmful to others, but this is not a psychic attack in the sense of being a spell or something like that done by a person who really knows what they are doing. Your real danger here was probably not from him, but from your own reactions to him. Keeping a positive attitude, learning some simple shielding and strengthening your "defensive qi" may be a good idea for future dealings with this person. Remember, this is only based on what you have told me, and I have not done any deeper investigation, but I do have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, and have a pretty good sense of what is usually involved. I hope this is helpful. ZYD

I don’t think you get my point. The higher dimensional races can only do things which we dream about. Or watch movies about. The purpose of cultivating well it’s not just about powers.. it’s about cultivating your soul as well.. if you can cultivate your soul to get rid of the negative layers of your soul then your powers will manifest.. Material desires like greed and lust are part of the negative layers of the soul which are keeping our powers suppressed.