Search the Community

PREFACE Vijnanabhairava is a very ancient book on Yoga. It closely follows the basic principles of Saivagama. It contains 112 types of yoga. There is hardly any other book on yoga which has described so many ways of approach to Central Reality that is present in each man as his essential Self. It is both extensive, and intensive in the treatment of the subject of yoga. An English translation of this excellent work is being provided for the first time. The text that has been adopted is mainly the one that is published in the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies. At a few places, however, slightly different readings yielding better sense have been incorporated as suggested by Svami Laksmana Joo. Each verse of the Sanskrit text has been printed in both Devanigari and Roman script. This is followed by an English translation and a number of expository notes which will go a long way in elucidating the main idea of the verse. A long Introduction explaining the basic principles of the yogas described in the text has been provided in the beginning. A glossary of technical terms has also been added at the end. Since the yogas recommended in the book are based on the tenets of the non-dualistic Saiva Philosophy, the reader will do well to read the author's Introductory Portion of either the Pratyabhijnahridayam or the Siva-sutras before taking up the study of the present book. I express my sincerest gratitude to Svami Laksmana Joo who has kindly taught this book to me word by word. My thanks are also due to Shri Dinanath Ganj who has kindly helped me in the preparation of the index to important Sanskrit words and the alphabetical index to the verses. Varanasi I. VI. 79 JAIDEVA SINGH

I've putted together Yogic and Daoist cultivation terms together for the same/similar practices. Maybe it will be of help for someone. Chinese terms are in pinyin. Yoga. Xiu/Xiuyang/Yangsheng. Pratyahara. Neiguan + Neishi + Neiting. Asana. Daoyin/Waigong. Pranayama. Qigong. Prana Vidya. Waiqi Liaofa. Dharana. Yigong. Dhyana. Zuowang. Yama + Niyama. Sanbao. Samadhi. Shenming.

Dear Dao Bums, I would like to ask about your experiences and/or opinions on this topic: "karma visible in our energy field". Let me share some of my stories: 1) Master Zhongxian Wu A fellow student of Master Wu shared something with me: when you visualise your liver as green, that day when you see your whole liver as completely green, that organ is fully healed. As long as there are spots of other colors or dark spots, there remain some potential problem in that organ. Similarly for heart and small intestine as red, lung and large intestine as white/grey/transparent, kidney and bladder as blue/black/purple, spleen stomach and pancreas as yellow, and liver and gallbladder as green. The black spots / spots of other colors are karmas (from ancestors, from yourself or from the universe) remaining in your body, potentially causing you to fall sick later. 2) Chunyi Lin As long as there is a channel that is not open, it means there is a wrong energy blocking it. 3) Danish Mystic Martinus Martinus states that all of our karmas are visible in our energy field or aura. So someone could be walking around with a car accident in the aura, and for the psychic this would be clearly visible. 4) Damo Mitchell In one of Damo Mitchells books (I think it's his big one "a comprehensive guide to daoist neigong"), he talks about supernatural powers. One of the powers is the ability to view the whole qi field around a person. This makes the practitioner capable of predicting a person's future, as it's all visible in the different layers of the energy field. 5) Native American in Peru A coworker of mine spent 1 year in South America in Peru, trying to learn Spanish. When she was visiting a mountain deep in a jungle, as she was descending, a native american approached her. He warned her, that he could see in her aura that some bads things were just about to happen to her, and that it would be quite difficult emotionally, but that after 1 year, things would improve. When she got back to her hotel, her boyfriend called her and broke up with her. The next day she got a call that one of her parents had fallen sick, and that an animal on her childhood farm she loved had died. Everything the man told her came true in the next year, and when she pulled through, suddenly everything improved drastically. 6) My own experience After having a very mentally disturbing nadi reading last week, I went to meditate. I am initiated into Sri Vidya, and sat down to say my daily mantras for each chakra (japa). As I was going through each chakra, I saw some different dark spots and shapes inside each chakra. I intuitively understood what they meant, and understood that it was karmas from past lifetimes. They could be exhausted by experiencing them, and some of them could also be resolved through the mantras and rituals of Sri Vidya. I was happy that there was only one chakra that had a lot of bad karma stored in it, the others were much easier to deal with. However, it's going to take 1-3 years of intense rituals and mantras to clean up the worst and most intense stuff. Conclusion In the end, karma is simply energy. We have sent out energy through our thoughts, words and deeds, and this energy is bound to return to us. However, we can to a certain extent mitigate these energies, by building up opposing energies of sufficient strength. One way to do this is through qigong (posture, breathing, mantra, mudra and visualisation). Another way is through action (being good, serving others, giving to charity, forgiving, helping others etc). It's also possible through deep meditation on each chakra coupled with introspection and improvement of character (as done in SKY). Sri Vidya also gives very simple yet powerful ways of building energy through mantras, mudras and rituals. Depending on how strong your negative karma is, you need to put more energy into trying to cancelling it out. But it all comes to down being able to somehow get access to see and understand what the karmas are before they actually hit you, so you have time to build up the energy to try to neutralize them. Of course, in the end, karma is simply an educational tool of God, so another way is to simply learn our lesson then the karmas get wiped clean (according to Danish Martinus). Question What are your viewpoints, experiences or stories about the idea that karma is tangibly present and visible in our energy fields? God bless you!

Almighty God has given us several tools to bring us into union with the Divine Energy: 1) Body methods (including asanas, bandhas, mudras), 2) Breathing methods (including pranayama & mantras), and 3) Mind methods (including dharana, dhyana, samadhi). All traditions, all religions and all spiritual practices use a mix of the 3 above categories. Under the body method we have mudras. Different hand gestures or "seals" which command the pranshakti (life force energy or qi) to circulate in a particular manner. Simply by putting your body in a specific position (standing, sitting or lying) and employing a particular mudra, you can command your pranshakti (or qi) to circulate in particular manner. I have been experimenting with all kinds of cultivation methods (body, breath and mind methods - from hindu, sufi, daoist, buddhist, christian, muslim and many more traditions), and I can personally vouch for the power of mudras. Christians pray using a mudra (hands clasped, fingers interlocked). Muslims and sufis pray using a mudra (open hands towards the sky). Hindus and Buddhists pray using a mudra (their palms joined together). I recently stumbled upon this wonderful online list of 50 different hindu mudras! https://www.fitsri.com/yoga-mudras You can check it out. If you want to experiment with mudras to: 1) gain peace of mind (shunya mudra), 2) circulate your pran (prana mudra), 3) attract more wealth (Kubera mudra), 4) become fearless (abhaya mudra), 5) heal your entire head from headache, congestion, eye strain or any other problem (mahasirs mudra), 6) or any other issue, you should give these mudras a go Just sit for 5-15 minutes every day for a week, and you can see for yourself what works for you. Trust nobody experiment and see for yourself God bless you!

Hello once again recently I have been reading Taoist Yoga_ Alchemy and immortality, I was wondering on peoples idea of the book and the practices It held I saw that there isnt much on taoist yoga on here so I thought we could discuss it? Maybe?

Dear Dao Bums, This post is about sexuality and spirituality, and joining these two together (which may mean different things to different people). Three parts: 1) Intro 2) A newfound discovery (link to interesting stories!) 3) Inviting you guys for sharing knowledge, experiences and helping me answer some interesting questions Intro Sexuality and Spirituality has been my own two main interests in my life. This has made me venture into many interesting things, including: Sri Vidya which I've written about here: https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/53122-sri-vidya-yantra-mantra-tantra-mudra-guru-karunamaya/ Genital weightlifting and daoist lovemaking, which I've written about here: https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/52045-my-experience-with-genital-weight-lifting-sexual-qigong-daoist-lovemaking-and-meditation/ https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/52880-healing-in-different-systems/ I feel like I've managed to a certain degree to blend and understand both domains (sexuality and spirituality), but I am still searching, looking, living, exploring and experiencing. Lately I've been very fascinated by the power of ancient Sri Vidya rituals (including mantra, yantra, tantra, mudra and nyasa used in rituals). While researching online, I discovered that Sri Vidya has been kept secret until very recently, where my own Sri Vidya Guru's Guru (my paramguru) made it open to the public. My Sri Vidya Guru is Guru Karunamaya. His Guru is Amritananda Saraswati Natha. Amritananda has build a small place for the practice of Sri Vidya called "DeviPuram" (city of the Goddess). While reading and researching more on my paramguru, I came across this very juicy and very amusing story! 2) A newfound discovery In Devipuram, sex rituals are a very big part of their practice! This really surprised me, as India is known for being extremely conservative. The spiritual abstain from alcohol, meat, sex etc. You can read this very interesting story here: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/05/sex-messiah-the-virginal-monk-adult/ https://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/05/sex-messiah-breaking-the-master-adult/ In short, it's about the son of two western hindu converts, who grew up in a puritan hindu ashram in the US. He was celibate and trained to be a religious leader, however, in his 20s he rebelled and went to India. He came to Devipuram. And was involuntarily immersed in all kinds of sex stuff. You can read his amusing and interesting take on it in the links above. 3) Invitation for you guys' participation and questions 1) Have you been to Devipuram? 2) What was your experience? 3) Do you know anyone who's been there? 4) Do you know where one could obtain the way to conduct "yoni puja"? (worship of the woman's "bab'ul-jannah" or doorway to paradise ;)) 5) Do you know where one could obtain the way to conduct "linga puja"? (worship of the man's lingam or sexual organ) 6) Do you know where one could obtain the way to conduct "maithuna" or ritual lovemaking? After having experienced the power of Sri Vidya rituals and mantras on my life, I would be very interested to give it a go, and try to say these mantras while worshipping the Divine in another's body. It's cool, fun and interesting to sit and worship a turmeric cone or pyramid with water to get money and happiness, or worship a yantra with milk and ghee to heal yourself... but imagine how much fun it would be with your partner It sounds fun and exciting and if it works, even better! I look forward to hearing you guys' reaction to the stories, thoughts on this whole subject, and hopefully some who can share some experiences or point towards manuals explaining the rituals. Be blessed by the Divine!

So I have been studying and reading about yoga and all practices involved in yoga. From my understanding its really a complicated science. I recently read about siddhis and how one can use samayama(dharana, dhyana, samadhi) to achieve siddhis based on the object they use for meditation. I was wondering how one can achieve the siddhis of supermemory and intelligence. My research led me to mantra from sarswati as one method that is used by yogis. I was wondering if there is an object one can use to perform samayama to achieve this siddhis like how we have samayama on the strength of an elephant to achieve supernormal strength. Or if yoga and pranayama practices can also give the siddhis of supermemory and intelligence. Thanks.

I have been studying about human intelligence for a while and ironically its what led me to spirituality. I realized at some point it wasnt just about the brain. After studying buddhist and yogi techniques I came across certain methods. In shigon buddhism there is a mantra that Jkukai used to get supernormal memory and learning. In hinduism they use the mantra of saraswati to increase intelligence and memory. In patanjalis yoga they say samayama(dharana,dhyana,samadhi) on any object can grant u siddhis based on the object. However I dont know what object they use for supernormal memory and learning. Now I was wondering what will be the daoist method. Reason why I am curious about the daoist method is because Daoists are very logical and hyper efficient in creating their techniques that their methods are one of if not the fastest amongst all cultivation cultures. The reason why I want the siddhi of supernormal memory and learning is that I noticed that in the past this particular ability was very important to cultivators and their students. It seemed to help them see through the veil of what they were being taught and obey the instructions given correctly. Today most of us are of average intelligence which makes it tough for us to understand the instructions. Also imagine if u could learn languages like pali,sanskrit and mandarin quickly so u could read classics and original documents.

I have been studying about human intelligence for a while and ironically its what led me to spirituality. I realized at some point it wasnt just about the brain. After studying buddhist and yogi techniques I came across certain methods. In shigon buddhism there is a mantra that Jkukai used to get supernormal memory and learning. In hinduism they use the mantra of saraswati to increase intelligence and memory. In patanjalis yoga they say samayama(dharana,dhyana,samadhi) on any object can grant u siddhis based on the object. However I dont know what object they use for supernormal memory and learning. Now I was wondering what will be the daoist method. Reason why I am curious about the daoist method is because Daoists are very logical and hyper efficient in creating their techniques that their methods are one of if not the fastest amongst all cultivation cultures. The reason why I want the siddhi of supernormal memory and learning is that I noticed that in the past this particular ability was very important to cultivators and their students. It seemed to help them see through the veil of what they were being taught and obey the instructions given correctly. Today most of us are of average intelligence which makes it tough for us to understand the instructions. Also imagine if u could learn languages like pali,sanskrit and mandarin quickly so u could read classics and original documents.

Dear Dao Bums, What I wanted to share today was my very interesting discovery about the parallels between the TCM and qigong meridian system, and the chakra, nadi and petal system in Yoga and Sri Vidya. The two channels in the agyna chakra: Ksham (क्ष) is the left side of the forehead, it is the left, outermost bladder meridian in TCM. Ham (हं) is the right side of the forehead, it is the right, outermost bladder meridian in TCM. The bladder branches into 2 channels on each side of the spine, i.e. 4 channels in total. An innermost and an outermost on each side of the spine. The four channels in the muladhara chakra: Sam (सं) is the left, lower kidney meridian (i.e. from the muladhara chakra and down to under the foot) Vam (वं) is the right, lower kidney meridian (i.e. from the muladhara chakra and down) Sham( शं) is the upper part of the right kidney meridian (from muladhara chakra and up through the body, through the lung and finally into the brain) Ssam (षं) is the upper part of the left kidney meridian (from muladhara chakra and up) The six channels in the swadistana chakra: Lam (लं) is the left, lower part of the spleen meridian (running from svadistana chakra and down to the big toe) Bam (बं) is the right, lower part of the spleen meridian. Bham (भं) is the right, upper part of the spleen meridian (running from svadistana and up) Mam (मं) is the innermost bladder channel to the right of the spine, running from swadistana chakra and up alonside the spine Yam (यं) is the innermost bladder channel to the left of the spine, running from swadistana chakra and up alonside the spine Ram (रं) is the upper part of the left spleen meridian (from swadistana and up). I can't wait to journey through the rest of the chakras and nadis, and clear the channels even more (nadi shuddhi). I'll keep you posted as I discover more If you'd like to know a bit more about the background, read on: There are mantras for 6 chakras and their individual nadis. There are 2 nadis in the agyna chakra, 4 nadis in the muladhara chakra, 6 in the swadistana, 10 in the manipura, 12 in the anahata, 16 in the vishuddi. That means you need to memorize a total of 50 sanskrit letters and their mantra, which is going to take some time Saying the sound of the sanskrit letter in the "petals" of the chakra, activates the nadi. Saying the sound of the sanskrit letter in the middle of the chakra, activates the chakra. All of this knowledge is from Hinduism, namely the Yoga and Sri Vidya tradition, as taught by Guru Karunamaya. I've written about my experiences with it here: The method is simply "sandwiching" an empowered mantra from your guru in between the sanskrit letter for each channel. This 1) activates the channel, 2) sends energy from your guru mantra into the channel, 3) closes the energy inside the channel. For example: lam aum nama shivaya lam. So far, I've only mastered the agnya, muladhara and swadistana (which I've described above), so the next one I'll work on memorizing and opening is the manipura chakra and its 10 nadis Be blessed by the Divine! May we all enjoy good health, long life, prosperity, happiness, wisdom and peace

For those of you well experienced in Buddhism and the other arts. I'd like to open a discussion about the differences between the systems. What similarities have people noticed and what differences. This paper gives some examples - Daoyin is mentioned as being the same as pranayama for example or that Hatha Yoga came from Buddhism. Would you agree? https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359231046_A_Brief_Overview_Comparing_the_Core_Theories_Cultivation_Practices_and_the_Interrelationships_of_Buddhism_Daoism_Brahmanism_and_Yoga?_sg[1]=

CAVEAT EMPTOR -- This comparison is purely my own hypothesis, based on my own experiences and practice. Kriya Yoga is an interesting topic. There are many kinds of Yogic Kriya (literally, Action). Some are part of the Hatha Yoga tradition, such as the shatkriya - six kriyas, which are cleansing/purification techniques -- Kapalabhati pranayama - literally the "skull illuminating" pranayama - oxygenates the brain, cleanses the nasal passages Neti - the cleansing of the sinus cavity Nauli - creating a vacuum in the abdominal cavity by using muscular control Trataka - Gazing fixedly at a specific point (a ghee lamp flame for instance) Dhauti - washing the alimentary tract (controlled vomiting) Basti - yogic enema These are used as purification/preparatory practices undertaken by serious hatha yoga practitioners. But then we also have the more esoteric kriya yoga practices such as (famously) the Mahavatar Babaji's Kriya tradition, transmitted via Lahiri Mahashaya -> Sri Yukteshwar Giri -> Paramahamsa Yogananda lineage. There are other Kriya techniques -- Transcendental Meditation is one, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga is another, Tamil Siddhar Yoga traditions teach others. I've had the opportunity to learn and practice two such esoteric Kriya Traditions. I practiced Tamil Siddhar Tradition for a few years -- which was a blend of Hatha Yoga asanas, Pranayama, and mudras to raise kundalini in the central channel. The other is Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, as taught by Sri Sri Ravishankar and the Art of Living foundation. I learned and practiced it for a few years in the early 2000s, and then recently resumed its practice earlier this year. I've been regular in my practice since early February this year, and have missed 3-4 days (tops) due to travel schedules, etc. The pranayama methods outlined in Tamil Siddhar Yoga (TSY) and Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) have some similarities, though at one point I had thought the physically tougher TSY techniques were more "powerful" than SKY, simply because TSY is harder to practice. I couldn't have been more wrong. Having a long-standing and regular Dao Gong (Neigong)/Taijiquan practice now, I find there are some very interesting differences in what is cultivated in the SKY vs TSY vs Neigong systems. The Neigong system I practice is very powerful, and it works on the full range - body energy, subtle energy, and awareness/consciousness. Depending on the practice (and there is a wide range of practices, often using the same physical forms, but with different focus/emphasis), one or all of the above will be systematically exercised/cultivated. TSY is similar to Dao Gong, though I believe it doesn't work directly at the awareness level as much (or maybe because I only practiced it for 3-4 years, I didn't advance to the higher levels). SKY on the other hand works primarily in the subtle energy and awareness levels. The objective is to unify/consolidate the subtle energy, raise it to the third eye/crown point and enter into deep stillness/meditation. There is a body bliss similar to how Dao Gong produces it, and it continues throughout the day after each session. What is very interesting to me is the meditative quality it induces -- it results in progressively deepening stillness and clear luminescence of the mind, which too persists throughout the day, in spite of oftentimes very chaotic/stressful work schedules (I am often in meeting for 4-5 hrs a day, working on very complex and technical topics). Given my background in the other systems, I can't for certain say that if one practiced only SKY, or only TSY, or only Dao Gong, what the outcome would be. Speaking to friends who only practice SKY, I see that they too report similar experiences. I didn't have this kind of experience with TSY. Dao Gong is more "balanced" in my experience. I think the focus on the lower dantien has a lot to do with that. To my knowledge, they haven't interfered with each other as I've continued my practice(s) over a span of two decades. I have not practiced TSY in several years. But I can say with some confidence that SKY is the "easiest" of the three methods I've mentioned -- in that, the effort required to practice is progressively lower, and the entering into deep meditation is spontaneous and effortless -- even on days when the mind is relatively more distracted by worldly things. I do notice that SKY has "super-charged" the Daogong, especially the Jing/Qi level, and specifically the "Yang" aspect. The dao gong duration has progressively reduced for me, from 2-4 hrs a day for a long time, to no more than 45 minutes since the past 3-4 years. I do maintain a good 8-12 hr gap between SKY and Dao Gong/Taijiquan/Neigong practice -- mainly because my schedule prevents me from overlapping the two. I think also there is another reason to space these out -- they are working at different levels and doing them back to back seems like overloading the system to me. Why did I resume the SKY practice after many years of gap? I felt drawn to it. In retrospect, there is an element of "letting go" in SKY, while also maintaining balanced, even-keeled energy and mental state beyond the meditation time. SKY is good for someone looking to enter deep meditative states, undertake self-inquiry type meditation, with a focus on Self-realization.

As the title says, my main interest is mindful movement. The practice of melding the body and the mind. I’m a longtime yoga practitioner but would like to learn more about other mind/body forms of practice. Of course practice makes permanent a yoga teacher once to me. I need to move to bring calm and clarity to my mind.

Hi everybody, Thanks for allowing me to join this forum. I will participate on discussions on Yoga. Love to all. Snehasis.

Dear friends, My name is Dharmender from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. I am here to help people learning about a unique meditation method called Guru Siyag Yoga. Look forward to interacting with people here. I am a regular practitioner of Guru Siyag Yoga since 2017 and have gone through a lot of spiritual experiences. More details are at www.gurusiyagyoga.org or on my youtube channel

Greetings, I have the feeling that most yoga courses, especially the mainstream ones, are crazy fast. This one instructor jumps from one pose to another and i can't even get 3 breaths in between let alone become more aware of my body. It is so hyperactive! But the thing is even the more spiritual and consciousness focused courses and videos are still way to fast for me. To be honest it annoys me a bit. I am a rather slow person, when i walk to buy some grocery even old granny's are speeding past me So my question is, are those courses, especially hatha yoga, supposed to be fast? Is there maybe a reason for the speed, has it an effect? Or is it just a product of our hyperactive and restless culture? I would love to get some outside perspective on this.

Hello seekers, I've just started reading the book Gheranda Samhita. The book recommends to first purify the nadis before starting any pranayama, what's got me confused are the Bija mantras (YAM, RAM, THAM, VAM - I'm not sure if those are correct, I used Google translate of the text I found at a German website) and their duration. What are the Bija mantras? What does 16 times, 32 times and 64 times mean? What is the specific duration in seconds? Thanks for the help.

Hello seekers, I've just started reading the book Gheranda Samhita. The book recommends to first purify the nadis before starting any pranayama, whats got me confused is the mantras (RAM, THAM, LAM, VAM) and their duration. What does 16 times, 32 times and 64 times mean? What is the specific duration in seconds? Thanks for the help.

For those who are interested in knowing more about the nature of liberation/enlightenment (in the Advaita Vedanta tradition), this is a must watch —-

I was recently introduced to Edward Selim Michael by a very spiritually-insightful Jewish woman who has hosted Quaker and Buddhist groups for as long as I have known her. I recently finished reading Michael's book, "The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga and the Way of Inner Vigilance". He clearly states that the aim of the book is "direct inner experience" and that is what attracted me to him. My own spiritual mentor of over 30 years once said, "Question everything, even what I say... and, if a teacher can't point you to the direct experiences, then go elsewhere". Edward Selim Michael seems to be such a being who points one to the direct inner experiences. I just ordered another one of Michael's books, "Obstacles to Enlightenment and Liberation", because he warns against getting into comfortable, familiar ruts and I plan to use his book as a checklist to see what tendencies I may have that could be holding me back. Michael seems to be a man who has been there and not just some one pontificating grand theories and quoting the masters but one who speaks from direct inner experiences. I wasn't sure where to post this topic but decided to post it here because, despite his yoga/meditation inclinations, " It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but as his teaching was based on his direct experience, he did not hesitate to quote Christian, Hindu, or Sufi mystics." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Salim_Michael To get the discussion going, I will include without comment a few quotes from his book, "The Law of Attention: Nada Yoga and the Way of Inner Vigilance". (Note that I have replaced the masculine word "he" in the quotes by "one".) 1. "The aim of this book is to help seekers arrive at recognizing, through direct inner experience, their higher nature and the after-death state, the state from which they originated and to which they will return on leaving this form of existence." 2. "Without perhaps realizing it, one will then start to sleep inwardly again, thinking that one is still working by being merely satisfied with the intellectual knowledge and memory of certain limited spiritual experiences one may have had in the past." 3. "If, during meditation, this luminous expanse of consciousness becomes adulterated and diluted in the slightest degree with one's habitual state, it will then inevitably cease to be Truth." 4. "It will be readily evident to one who has practiced meditation seriously and has had enlightenment that what was right and necessary at the beginning of one's quest will no longer be right or practical later".

Hey Everyone, I'm an enthusiastic explorer of the mind-body link. I'm a Hindu by upbringing and a curious inquirer into the nature of things. I'm a control systems engineer currently working in systems biology and was always interested about prana/chi. Recently I had a weird first person experience during the practice of yoga nidra. It's the practice of deeply relaxing but holding clarity and focus of mind simultaneously, in the supine position, and moving the the focus of awareness through different parts of the body one by one. Mostly I have experienced a sensation of tingling and vague throbbing sensation seemingly correlated with the pulse throb. But I that day the relaxation was particularly strong and I was almost in a hypnagogic state where I felt the "sensation of tingling" coalesce into a narrow region approximately half the width of a finger tip. Sharpness of the sensation was new and almost felt like a clear but mild electric current. It followed my attention and I attempted to move it throw my left arm. It felt as if a charged thin thread was moving through the upper flesh, just beneath the skin, tracing a path that felt like it was already there. I lost control of the "droplet" near my shoulder and it moved straight into my heart region automatically as if it was slipping towards it creating a sharp but mild pain which startled me out of the relaxation state. The pain was clear and sharp. I tried to recreate this experience but I have not had success in doing so yet. Mainly because of the extent of relaxation without dullness of mind that it seems to require. I have started practicing shamatha (mindfulness of breathing) to get a hang of this. I found Alan Wallace's material on concentration development to be the most erudite and practical. Please do offer suggestions on finding authentic teachers and practitioners in Tai Chi/Qi gong.

Hard Light guru Mark Griffin took mahasamadhi October 24th, 2018. i don't know who hangs out around here these days, but i didn't see that anyone had posted the news, so i thought i might do so. Mark was a Godsend to me. here's a copy of something i shared on Facebook a week and a half ago: the first time i ever experienced true, deep spiritual intoxication was with this man. it was my first meditation intensive with him. i was late because of all the road blocks in San Francisco, and that made me frustrated. that wasn't the energy i wanted to walk in with, but i was already late. Lee Schwing was the lady sitting at the registration table (bless her!), and she just gave me a smile, checked my registration, and welcomed me in. my mind was scrambled. i HATED being one of the only black people there and having to be the late guy. i also hated feeling so agitated; it made me feel as if i had failed before i even arrived. so i walked into the room and the first meditation session had already begun. as i quietly made my way to where i was going to sit, Mark looked up at me, made brief eye-contact with me, smiled, then went right back into meditation. that was it. that was all he did. i had never met this man before, but with that small gesture, all of the tension left my body. all the agitated chatter in my mind just stopped. my shoulders relaxed and dropped, and feelings of love gently poured into me until i genuinely felt as if i was falling in love with this man. and the thing is, i was! it wasn't some romantic or sexual thing, but my experience of Mark was literally love at first sight. that day i reached a meditative depth i had never experienced before. a day or two later i was still processing what had occurred at the day-long intensive. confusion and doubt came flooding back in, wondering if some hypnotic trick had been played on me, trying to dispute that what had occurred that day was even possible. i was already familiar with subtle energy and healing transmission through the hands and whatnot, but the magnitude of what i had experienced, and the context (with it all beginning with a brief smile) was just on another level. so i just kept looking for reasons to doubt & dismiss it. that's when it happened. suddenly, like an eruption, i was overcome with with this incredible, intoxicating, energizing love-bliss. it was better than any mushrooms i had experimented with in my 20's. it was pure, no distortion or nausea, just heat radiating through my back, and electricity buzzing through my teeth. this lasted for about 3 days, rising and falling in waves, but present the entire time. the truly mystical events that occurred during all of this i will save for myself and my students. FB is not an appropriate place for my complete truth. i became a sincere student of Mark. i grew so quickly. so many spiritual teachings and beliefs that i thought were nonsense proved themselves to be legit. and that has been my approach: to believe only what i can experience or discern for myself to be true, reading through scriptures more for confirmation rather than information. checking my direct experiences with the writings of those who came before me. it has been an amazing journey! and it all really began with this man. thank you SO MUCH, Mark Griffin. i'll see you soon, Big Brother. Om Namah Shivaya.

I find Vrikshasana to be a very stimulating pose. I've often read that this pose helps stimulate the muladhara, but in my experience it seems to really stimulate the crown and third eye centers. I wonder why this is? my only guess is that the hands above the head is some kind of mudra.

Greetings. I've read the forums from time to time & found good information here in the past so decided to join proper. Have taken many ideologies from different places throughout my life and have constructed a belief system that is again in transition. Been practicing Yoga and Qigong regularly, many years of different Yoga styles, Qigong is new. Have been practicing the Spring Forest method and would like to learn more traditional methodology to have the option of weaving the two together or practicing another form. I am interested in a spiritual wellness as well as mind-body wellness. I've begun meditation over the past 2 years which really isn't a lot of time. Focusing on breath work. Have worked with TCM practitioners quite a bit over the years though my knowledge feels limited. I wish to more fully participate from a more informed mind. Am happy to read on different modalities a roots of said practices. Am interested in learning how things are connected from Taoist perspectives as have found some of my beliefs and practices here in the past. I feel the need to look deeper. Pleased to be here. Moon Yin