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Dear Dao Bums, Let me share some of my experiences with the highest level of Sri Vidya: the Navavarana Puja done on the Sri Meru (3D pyramid version of the well-known 2D version Sri Yantra also known as Sri Chakra). I'll share in 3 points: 1) Intro to Sri Vidya and Sri Meru 2) My own path to Sri Vidya and experiences from each level 3) My experiences with the Sri Meru Navavarana Puja 1) Intro to Sri Vidya and Sri Meru Sri Vidya translates literally as "auspicious knowledge" and is related to Goddess Worship. Sri Vidya has been kept secret for millenia because of its unique methods allowing the accomplishment of both yoga (spiritual liberation) and bhoga (material enjoyment and success). Sri Vidya has several origin stories: 1) It was given by Shiva to his most beloved consort Shakti as the ultimate means of acquiring everything both spiritually and materially, 2) It was given to saint Agastya as a boon by Vishnu's Hayagriva form, because Agastya asked for a way common people could easily and quickly reach ultimate liberation without renunciation and multiple-life spiritual practice, 3) It was given directly from the joint incarnation of the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva) Dakshinamurti to a student, who then passed it on to Parashurama (Vishnu's 6th incarnation out of 10 incarnations). Adi Shankaracharya a very famous preacher of advaita vedanta & an unparalleled yogi personally installed Sri Yantra in temples all across India. Sri Vidya gives unique methods of reaching both bhukti (material enjoyment and success) and mukti (spiritual liberation) in this current incarnation. What is then the Sri Yantra / Sri Chakra? It's a 2D version that is called "Yantra Raja" or the "King of all Yantras". The 3D version is called Maha Meru and is in a pyramidal shape. The story is that this yantra holds all other yantras in it, it contains all Gods, all Goddesses, all Gurus, all spiritual powers (siddhi) as well as all the necessary means for complete fullfillment of purushartha (dharma, artha, kama and moksha, the 4 goals of human life). 2) My own path to Sri Vidya and experiences from each level I was exposed to Hinduism from early childhood, and it was always a big part of my life in early childhood as well as my teenage years. This was due to family. In my twenties I followed along the footsteps of my family and got mantra diksha (mantra initiation) and performed a "maha-purascharan" which in my case took 4 years of daily mala japa (mantra chanting with a rosary) to complete. At the completion of each purascharana, like clockwork, that very night I got a dream of the form of Almighty God I was worshipping. I would get life guidance. After performing 6 purascharans and getting these dreams I was quite content spiritually. At that moment I came into contact with SKY (Simplified Kundalini Yoga) which is a direct energy and transmission based meditation system. SKY blew my socks off; on top of deep meditation, I felt it gave "tangible benefits". By meditating on the chakras I got much better health, sleep, energy levels, mood and even better meditation than before, whereas with mantra japa I got a dream once or twice per year, but other than that it was adrishta-phala (unseen fruit) for me. No visible, tangible result. The tangible benefits of SKY reeled me in, because it seemed to give much more much easier and with lesser effort, so over time I slowly tapered down my japa until I completely stopped. After several years, my hindu family member sent me an invitation to an online Sri Vidya workshop with mantra diksha. It had no impact on me whatsoever - inside myself I thought "I've already tried mainstream religious hinduism with my years and years of mantra japa. It's a great way, but it seemed that SKY was simply superior in all ways. However, for some reason I read a bit on the webpage over a few days, just to give my family member and Sri Vidya the benefit of the doubt. At that point I saw a photo of Bala Tripura Sundari (the teenage form of the Goddess) and something deep in my soul stirred. I couldn't say what it was, but I felt something very deep and profound stirring. I felt a kind of attraction unlike anything I've ever felt before. After a few days of this deep feeling I decided to give it a go. Since then I've completed the rituals and mantras of each level of the Sri Vidya given by Parashurama and freely shared with the public by Guru Amritananda Natha. It's taken me several years of blood, sweat and tears to complete, it's been quite tough and demanding to be honest, but worth it. Level 1: Removal of Obstacles, Starting the Worship of the Goddess, Protection Ganapati the elephant God removes obstacles from your spiritual and material path and grants stability Bala Tripura Sundari is the teenage version of the Goddess, so you start your approach towards the Goddess Chamunda (Durga) gives you material and spiritual protection Level 2: Attraction, Joy, Love & Acceptance By worshipping Raja Shyamala Devi, the feminine side of the Goddess, you become enormeously attractive. In a group of the opposite sex, at least one from that group will be attracted to you after you've worshipped Raja Shyamala. It gives you profound pleasure in meditation. Further, it attracts more goodness towards you, materially and spiritually. In the end, this attraction and pleasure is said to actually be the Goddess' way of attracting you further towards her! Level 3: Healing, Protection, Destroying Bad Here you worship Varahi Devi, the masculine side of the Goddess. You heal your physical body, destroy black magic, protect yourself from enemies and spirits. You destroy and push away badness and bad energy from your spiritual and material life. Level 4: Here you finally worship Tripura Sundari in the Sri Meru with Navavarana Puja with her panchadashi mantra. Level 5: You get a higher mantra for Maha Tripura Sundari called Maha Shodashi, it's simply an add-on to the Navavarana Puja, and a big level up spiritually when you meditate with it (japa) I've detailed some of my personal experiences with each level in this thread here: https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/53122-sri-vidya-yantra-mantra-tantra-mudra-guru-karunamaya/ 3) My experiences with the Sri Meru Navavarana Puja I've recently started my first mandala (41 days) of Navarana Puja. I'm blown away! There are 9 layers or levels in the Meru, each called an avarana. The first 3 levels are one group and represents you as a seperate individual Level 1 represents the waking state and the feet. By worshipping it you're no longer helplessly thrown around by 8 negative feeling as a spontaneous and uncontrollable reaction to what you see and experience in the world, namely anger, lust, delusion, jealousy, greed, envy and possesiveness. Furthermore, it gives the 8 siddhis. Level 2 represents the dreaming state and the thighs. By worshipping it you eventually gain control of your dreams and get guidance in your dreams. You get aligned to cosmic cycles, namely the cycle of the moon. It is also said to satisfy all desires when worshipped. Level 3 represents the deep sleep state and muladhara chakra. It is said to end all agitation. The next 3 levels are one group and represents the powers working in the universe Level 4 represents the 14 worlds (chaturdashi loka), where we live in the 8th world (Bhu Loka or the Earth), as well as the swadisthana chakra. It is said to bless you with all auspiciousness. Level 5 represents the 5 karmendriyas (action organs) and the 5 gyanendriyas (knowledge organs) and the manipura chakra. It is said to bless you with all wealth. Level 6 represents the 5 elements and their 5 attributes and anahata chakra. It gives all protection. The final 3 levels represent Almighty God and his powers Level 7 represents the 8 most basic constituents of energy, the first outpouring from transcendent reality into primal, material existence, as well as the vishuddi chakra. It gives all healing. Further, it gives astral powers (seeing the past and the future, seeing every on planet Earth through your third eye, and later it gives the power of astral travel, i.e. leaving your physical body behind and travelling freely in the universe with your astral body. Read more here https://forum.amritananda.org/d/349-spiritual-reality-meditation-journey-within-by-guruji) Level 8 represents iccha (will), gyana (knowledge) and kriya (action) shakti, as well as agnya chakra. It gives all siddhis. Level 9 represents complete, pure bliss, God, sat-chit-ananda and the sahasrara chakra. It gives God realisation. When you add the Maha-Shodashi section on top of the regular puja, also on the same level of the Meru, it also opens dwadasangham chakra (above your head), allowing you to reach Thuriya-Teetha or the state even more beyond. My Personal And Tangible Experience The Navavarana puja takes between 1.5 and 2 hours to complete, so it's really, really long compared to the earlier pujas, where the longest (Varahi puja & Varahi tarpanam) took me about 50 minutes. The very first day I tried it, I got kind of tired because there are so many preparatory steps, new and unknown mantras as well as parts of the vedas and much more. However, the higher I reached on the pyramid, the higher I found a feeling of bliss and pleasure increasing at the corresponding chakra. When I reached the throat chakra, it was so intense that I could only describe it as a mix of deep meditation, ultimate sex, explosive orgasm and feeling drunk. When I reached the agnya, sahasrara and dwadasangham chakra, I was so slow in moving the spoon to give the Meru milk, because I was so incredibly blissed out. It isn't like that every day, but the more days of the 41 day mandala I complete, the stronger and more intense it grows, and stabilises more and more from day to day. I'm so incredibly surprised! I really feel "it was worth it" to go through years and years of blood, sweat, tears, rituals, mantra japa, purascharana and much more to get here. So far my feeling is that they weren't just marketing when they said the Meru is the ultimate.. I feel they were right! All the best! Sri Matre Namaha (salutations to the Goddess)

In Hinduism, there are 4 goals of life (Purushartha): 1) Artha (material wealth and security), 2) Kama (pleasure and enjoyment of life), 3) Dharma (following duty and religion, right conduct), 4) Moksha (spiritual liberation and salvation). I've always mostly been interested in dharma and moksha, so my spiritual search in sufism, hinduism, buddhism, daoism etc, in the areas of qigong, meditation, rituals etc, have always been in these two areas. Lately I'm feeling quite contented with my spiritual life. This has brought me a curiousity about how these traditions can also be used for upgrading the artha and kama side of life. What are your experiences and greatest hits with using spiritual traditions for upgrading kama and artha? Personally these are some of the things I've tried, which I felt worked: Kama: 1) Dan Rose "Sex God Method" or the "DEVI method" - this book blew my mind, upset me, broke my innocent view of women and sex, yet changed my sex life forever (for the better). 2) Daoist Sexual Qigong (a combination of postures, massage, breathholding and meditation, including genital weight lifting and swinging weights). 3) Daoist Lovemaking (using all of your body along with the art of feeling, knowledge of meridians and qi, as well as stages of arousal and different types of orgasms, to upgrade your lovemaking experience). Artha: 1) I've done a 41 day sufi ritual consisting of daily tasbih (reciting names of God) as well as salawaat (prayers for the prophet). On the 39th day, I got a call out of nowhere, inviting me to a one month job, which gave me 5 months of salary. At that point, I had been un-employed for 1.5 years, my savings were nearing 0, that's why I got so desperate that I decided to try a money ritual. 2) For several years, at every full moon I've done a money mantra from Vethathiri Maharishi. It was given to him by a yogi in astral form, when he had lost his business and had suddenly become very poor. He was great in meditation and spirituality, and had used his business to serve his community. They survived of his wife selling food she made in the streets. After he started this mantra, they built up the "World Community Service Center" and he became a famous Guru, respected by scientists, researchers, poets, celebrities and politicians. He's even on stamps, and his programs are in schools and universities. For me personally, I feel an energy building in my system when I do the mantra. I can't say for sure which results it has given me, but I do feel energy from it. 3) When I did a 41 Ganapati Tarpana (water ritual to the hindu elephant God), on the 39th day, I was called by my aunt, asking if I could tutor her girl friend's daughter in French. It was a few hundred bucks, very easy, 5-6 weeks in a row. On the 44th day of the ritual (I continued it for 3 more days), I got a call from the last place I worked, asking if I could come back for another 6 month project. 4) When I did 41 day Ganapati Yantra Puja, from the 38th day I started receiving inspiration on how to write a book and sell it using social media. Something I never thought of before! I'm still working on this project I can see that selling products online to the English speaking global market has unsurpassed potential for moneymaking, compared to simply working at a 9 to 5 job. Questions for you: What are your experiences and/or greatest hits with using spiritual traditions for upgrading kama and artha? God bless you!

Dear Dao Bums, In the spirit of sharing, what are your personal greatest hits? My personal top 3 is: 1) Simplified Kundalini Yoga (Vethathiri Maharishi), 2) Talisman qigong (Zhongxian Wu), 3) Sri Vidya (Amritananda / Devipuram). A little bit about each: 1) Simplified Kundalini Yoga (Vethathiri Maharishi) In this system your chakras are opened and empowered by a master one by one, allowing you to tangibly feel the pulsating vibration of energy in each chakra. It takes all the guesswork away, you don't need to rely on outer feedback anymore, you can yourself feel how strong your chakras are. Meditating on each chakra provides specific benefits. It's a complete system for increasing and transmuting sexual energy (kaya kalpa), building health through physical exercises (asanas, pranayama, massage and acupressure), building energy through meditation allowing you to achieve peace of mind and enlightenment, introspection for improving your moral character and getting rid of negative karmic imprints (vasanas/samskaras) and finally philosophical explanations for God, the universe, evolution, astrology etc. Beside the chakra meditations (7 inside the body, 2 outside, 9 in total), there are numerous other meditations which give unique benefits: Panchendriya (5 senses): this strengthens your 5 senses even until old age, and further gives your mind control of the senses. Panchabhuta Navagraha (5 elements and 9 planets): harmonize with universal forces and energies, cultivate energy, improve your destiny. Nityananda (meditating on the energy pervading all over the body): gives ecstatic pleasure and strengthens energy all over your body. Divine State Meditation: helps you to again and again understand and feel the oneness between you, the universe and all living beings. Lamp Gazing: improving eyesight, purifying and energizing your soul, mind, brain and energy, and over time can give supernatural skills. Mirror gazing: one of the most powerful meditations, increasing energy in your body manifold very quickly. Over time can also give supernatural skills. Above is a general description of the system, let me share my personal journey and breakthroughs along the way. 1st breakthrough: when I got the first initiation, I felt a little something between my eyebrows, but not very noticeable. However, when I meditated that night, my God, it was insane. The vibration was so strong and powerful, my mind became completely still, and I just sat in complete peace. 2nd breakthrough: when I got the third initation, sahasrara chakra, I was blown away. When I meditated on the vibration in the crown chakra, I felt the same orgasmic pleasure as just before ejaculating. However, instead of being in the prostate area, and ending after a few seconds, the orgasmic ecstasy just stays in your crown chakra and brain during the whole meditation. At this point... I increased my meditation time a lot 3rd breakthrough: when I got my dwadasangham chakra (12 fingers above the head) opened, after about 1-2 weeks of meditation, one day I felt it REALLY open. Immediately, I was flooded with information. Questions and doubts about life, the universe, things that had happened to me, answers just flooded my consciousness. And whenever I thought of a question, the answer immediately came. I felt at one with God. This also made me meditate much longer, because it was just so interesting. After some weeks, I had no more questions, so I just sat in complete peace and oneness. Nowadays, whenever something is going on in my life, I sit and meditate, and I will understand what's going on and why. 4th breakthrough: lamp gazing. I got SO much more energy after starting lamp gazing. It probably increased my energy levels 5 times or so. 5th breakthrough: when all chakras were opened, I realized just how weak my navel chakra had been. I got so much more energy and much better digestion when I could finally meditate on my navel chakra. 6th breakthrough: mirror gazing. This exercise is insane. My energy must have increased by 10 fold or more when I started doing it. To this day, I can't understand why it is SO powerful, but it increases my energy so much. I rarely ever fall sick, and I am always full of energy now. 7th breakthrough: becoming a master and initiating others. You simply do mirror gazing and meditation on the morning you give initiations to boost your own energy. Just before giving initiation, you say a prayer to God and Vethathiri. Every single time, energy just floods into your system, empowering either your hands or eyes, depending on which initiation you're about to give. It's truly magnificent. I can only imagine how powerful Vethathiri had been while still alive in the body, seeing that such strong energy still comes, simply because of his sankalpa to help as many as possible through SKY. 2) Talisman qigong (Zhongxian Wu) I was doing a 3 day workshop on his cosmic orbit qigong, which I really enjoyed. Due to a ticket sale, I would stay 3 more days after the workshop before flying home. Because Master Wu also stayed some days after the workshop, he decided to offer a one day workshop on "calligraphy healing qigong" for just 25 euros. I was so sceptical and there was no way I believed "painting" could be used as a way of healing. However, I was there for 3 days with nothing to day, and 25 euros was nothing, so I decided to try out the workshop. I came there just to pass time, expecting nothing. However, when we did the mantras, mudras and visualisation, I really felt energy come into my body. Then he asked us to practice healing on each other, and I just didn't believe it to be possible. To my great surprise, it worked! The lady I worked on could really feel my energy and that of the talisman inside her body. I was so surprised. I thought it was probably because I had already been meditating daily for 4 years. But there was no way that this elderly lady with no spiritual background could perform healing on me, she had no training, nor any energy to give. Even when she used the talisman to heal me, I really felt the energy from the talisman coming into my body! I was so surprised. It was not that powerful, but it still worked. I was blown away. Master Wu told us to go back home and practice daily for 49 days, then we would have access to this talisman's healing energy. We could use it on ourselves and others, or even to paint a talisman on paper to use for improving fengshui in the home. I went back home to practice, still not really believing it could be possible. I saw everything through the lens of hinduism: healing I considered a kind of siddhi, and acquiring siddhi is extremely difficult. At that point, I had done years and years of daily mala japa (chanting with prayer beads) of a mantra, completing many purascharans, and it had been quite difficult. And that was just to purify myself, come closer to God and prepare myself for higher sadhana (spiritual practice), including other sadhanas that could produce siddhis or supernatural powers. When I got back home and started practicing, I would do the talisman healing on myself, and I felt that it worked. About 10 days into my 49 day practice, my parents heard about my 49 day project. From that day, they asked me to call them every day when I was practicing, and they asked me to help heal different issues. Also as remote healing (something I didn't even believe in at the time). No matter what I did, it just worked! It worked every single time. They would call me after the healing and tell me everything they had experienced during the remote healing. About 21 days into my 49 days, random friends of my parents would call me and ask for healing. So during my 49 days, I hadn't even finished the 49 days, still the talisman energy was helping me to heal myself, siblings, parents, friends of my parents, and also a few strangers. This experience completely exploded my worldview at the time, and that's why I decided to keep training with Master Wu. I've since then learnt the talismans for all 5 elements (White Tiger, Green Dragon, Red Bird, Mystical Warrior and Mother of the Big Dipper). Mystical Warrior is northern water energy, Mother of the Big Dipper is central, earth energy. I actually spent all my money, and even lend from my grandmother, to travel and learn these talismans (at the time I was still studying, so I had low funds). I spend as little as possible on food and hotel when I was there, so I could pay everything back to her when I got back I still use it for myself, and sometimes if others ask for healings. I also use it to bless what I eat and drink sometimes. 3) Sri Vidya (Amritananda / Devipuram) This is a formerly secret system of Hindu Goddess Worship, which Amritananda has decided to share openly with the world. All Goddess worship can provide great supernatural powers, and the energies also have a great effect on our wordly life, e.g. increasing money and succes, healing etc. I never really cared for hindu ritual worship, I felt it to just be an empty show, and a way of extracting money from the poor. Priests and astrologers convincing poor people they had bad karma and needed to pay huge sums of money for them to do rituals on their behalf. However, when I saw a picture of Bala Tripura Sundari, I felt strangely attracted towards it. These weird feelings prompted me to try and do the beginners module. In the end, if it didn't work, I could just stop after the first module. I got diksha (initiation) for the mantras for the root, sexual and navel chakras. Furthermore, I learnt several rituals for each chakra: tarpana (water ritual), puja (prayer ceremony) and homa/havan (fire ritual). I did it just to try it out. First I did a 41 days tarpana for the root chakra God Ganesha/Ganapati (elephant God). I actually felt energy coming into my root chakra and circulating in the 4 nadis of the root chakra. This suprised me a lot! Further, when I was about 38 days in, I got a call from someone, offering me a side hustle to earn more money. On the 44th day (I continued the ritual a few days extra, because there were a few days my wife didn't do it with me, so for her to also reach 41 days, we extendend it 3 days), I got another call, yet again with another side hustle opportunity. I was really surprised! Firstly, I actually felt the mantra opening and circulating energy in my root chakra and nadis. Secondly, I felt the ritual actually had an effect on my worldly life! This I felt to be the magic from movies, books, series etc, where a wizard does certain rituals to change his life and acquire powers. Therefore I continued with Sri Vidya, and it just keeps giving. I have been given mantras and rituals for the root, sexual, navel, heart and 3rd eye chakra, and I am in the process of completing them all (tarpanas I have completed for all, pujas I have 2 to go, havan I am currently in the process of finishing for all). After this, I will get the final and ultimate mantra for the crown chakra, as well as the ultimate ritual performed directly on the Sri Meru / Sri Yantra / Sri Chakra. This is supposed to be the ultimate, making it possible to acquire all worldly pleasures, all spiritual powers as well as complete enlightenment. Conclusion: My personal greatest hits are: 1) Simplified Kundalini Yoga (Vethathiri Maharishi), this taught me deep meditation. 2) Talisman qigong (Zhongxian Wu), this taught me healing. 3) Sri Vidya (Amritananda / Devipuram), this taught me rituals and mantras to assist my worldly and spiritual life. Question: What are your personal greatest hits on the spiritual path? You can include a small summary of the system, as well as your personal journey and breakthroughs God bless you!

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!

Dear Dao Bums, Question: Did any of you ever get a "naadi" astrology reading? Aka a palm leaf astrology reading? If yes, please share your story, experience, if everything came true, how did the remedies work etc. Story: In the past there were great saints and sages (aka maharishis) roaming India. In South India there was a group of rishis devoted to Shiva. Through their practices, they were granted the power (siddhi) of knowing the past, present and future of all people to ever live on Earth. In their great devotion to God and in a spirit of service to mankind, they wished to help all of mankind. Therefore they saw many millenia into the future, and saw exactly which people would eventually come to seek their help. The rishis then wrote in ancient tamil on dried palm leaves. They wrote the destinies of all people who would ever come to seek help. The leaf will start at the exact time of your life, when they foresaw you would come seeking guidance. It will give you the exact guidance you need (divided into 12 chapters, general, father, mother, siblings, work, marriage, spirituality, karma etc), and list out exactly what will happen to you for the rest of your life. In the karma portion, they will list your worst karmas from previous lives, and give the remedies needed to undo or counter these karmas. That's the story of Naadi Astrology. Personal experience: I've heard amazing stories of naadi astrology since I was a kid, but I never managed to get a reading for myself. I have searched several times while visiting India, but I couldn't get to any. Now, I've finally managed to get a reading! I booked it online (even though I am still extremely skeptic) and I'm going to get a reading in the middle of March. It has taken 4 months from when I submitted my thumb print and for the readers in India to actually locate my leaf (the libraries are spread all over with no centralized system). And now I will have to wait one more month for my actual reading, because the time zones need to match up. I am extremely excited! I will share my experience once I get the reading Until then, I hope to hear from you guys: Did you get a reading? Have you heard stories about people getting readings? If yes, please share 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!

Dear Dao Bums, Qigong and astral travel... Let me ask you some questions 1) Have you astral travelled? If yes, could you elaborate how you got to be able to do that, as well as share some experiences 2) Do you know any trustworthy stories (about friends, teachers etc) about astral travel? If so, please share 3) Do you know any qigong or meditation methods for astral travelling you could share? 4) Do you know any qigong or meditation teachers (trustworthy and authentic) who teach astral travel? Let me share some of my own answers to the above questions a) I'll start with SKY (simplified kundalini yoga). b ) After, I'll share about my sexual qigong and daoist lovemaking teacher. c) Then, I'll share from my indian-village-mountain-cave-yogi guru, who has a student who has shared stories about "sukshma sharir ki yatra" (subtle body travel or subtle body pilgrimage). d) Subsequently, I'll share the story of a white, atheist european boy, who accidentally got the power of astral travel through tibetan buddhist mandala visualisation meditation. e) finally, I'll share a short story from a qigong master from Australia SKY In SKY (Simplified Kundalini Yoga), Vethathiri Maharishi (the guru and founder) was taught astral travel by one of his own gurus. In the beginning of SKY, astral travel was taught as one of the meditations, freely available to everyone. Later, they changed it so only masters would learn it during the masters course. Latest... they completely stopped it. Therefore, alas, I have not been able to learn it yet.. However, I've heard face-to-face trustworthy accounts of high level teachers and masters in SKY, personally telling me about their experiences. The method used is meditating on the navel chakra. After that, I don't know what the next step is (yet.. I hope to learn someday, somehow). Other things they said: how they used to learn it. It would be on full moon morning. They would all have eaten a light dinner the night before, and meditated on the navel chakra before bed time. They would then meet at 4AM. They would all lie down with white sheets on top of them. Vethathiri would be seated, guiding it all. They would meditate on the navel chakra while lying down, and Vethathiri would use his yogic power to take them out of their body, one by one. Once all were out of the body, he would take them to the moon, all together. After returning to the meditation hall, he would stay there. He would then allow everyone to go and do what they want to try; e.g. visit their families, visit mountains or faraway lands, go on pilgrimages to temples etc. Lastly, he would put everyone back in their body. They could then practice this meditation on full moon mornings back home, whenever they wanted. They should just follow the same instructions; light dinner the night before with navel chakra meditation before bed etc. Sexual qigong and lovemaking teacher He told me that the end goal of all daoism and qigong is astral travel. "The One" spoken about in alchemy is actually our spiritual fetus, spiritual body, whatever you want to call it. "Return to the One", "Merge three into One", "From spirit to the One", "Merge with the Emptiness and attain the One" etc. He said the couple would do their qigong and meditation. They would then make sweet, sweet love. They would then leave their bodies. Once out of the body, they would use all the energy from the lovemaking to heal the physical bodies. They would then travel to another planet in our Galaxy, the one from where qigong originates. Here you can be taught higher teachings and achieve higher levels of mastery than using the qigong physically available on Planet Earth. Teachings which have slowly been lost over time, since given to the Planet Earth by "the Gods". Indian Village, another student of my guru He got the siddhi of sukshma sharir ki yatra through the following steps: 1) attain mantra siddhi of a kavach mantra (tantric protection mantra) 2) tratak on the sun and moon to build the energy sufficiently strong 3) meditating on the navel chakra with neck lock until prana and apana merge, after which they rush up through the sushumna, naturally break your neck lock, and go to the crown chakra 4) the prana will then pulse in your crown chakra. You meditate on this pulse of energy for 60 minutes with no other thoughts in your mind 5) then you will feel your sukshma sharir leave your physical body (don't become shocked, then you will have to restart the 60 minutes) 6) after the first succesfull leaving out the crown, you can do it very quickly (because the path has been opened) 7) then you can lie down on the back more comfortably and simply leave out the crown 8) then you will see your physical body sitting or lying there, and you will see spirits around you, trying to mess with you, trying to get you to freak out. Don't let them distract you from your goal, remember that you have put the kavach and trust in it 9) go to your destination, do what you need to do, come back (just by thinking about your body, you automatically return instantly, no matter where you are or the distance) He himself personally went to "Vaikunth", the planet or place where Lord Rama resides. He then did puja to Rama and Sita. Then he returned. After this first journey, he would venture out and journey, doing pilgrimages or simply visiting interesting places, every night during his sleeping time. White atheist boy At one point in my life, I stayed 6 months in a Hindu Ashram in Europe. The resident indian swami told me the following story about this swiss boy, who came to ask for advice. He was a white, swiss, atheist boy, who had never been interested in religion nor spirituality. In his 20s during his university education, a girlfriend of his convinced him to try to meditate, as a way to cope with stress. He agreed (I think he liked the girl ) He was taught a tibetan buddhist mandala visualisation. He would visualise the mandala in 4 steps: lower part of the mandala, middle part of the mandala, upper part of the mandala, the whole mandala together. If you lose the visualisation, you start over. He actually felt some stress relief from this method, so he continued it all throughout university, and also after starting work. After 7 years, one day while meditating, he heard a huge pop. He opened his eyes and saw the wall moving towards him. He was very surprised. As he tried to move, he noticed it was actually him, flying towards the wall. He turned around, and shockingly saw his body sitting in the chair. He was out of his body! He didn't know what to do, so he decided to go visit his dad back home in the countryside of Switzerland. He flew slowly all the way, following the roads and signs. He found his dad out in the garden, working. He tried to talk to him, but his dad didn't react. After some time, he flew all the way back, and went into his body again. He called his dad and asked "dad, did you work on the kale in the garden around 3 o'clock this afternoon?", "Why, yes son, I did". The swiss boy was shocked. The leaving of the body would then happen every single time he meditated. As an atheist, he was so confused by this experience, that he stopped his meditation, and went on google to try and find some hindu or buddhist centers in his city. He found the ashram I would later live in for 6 months, and asked the resident swami to explain what was happening to him, how it was possible, and what he should do. Qigong Master from Australia He was born into a chinese qigong family. At 4 he was forced to do long standing. As a teenager, his teacher took him astral travelling. He took him all the way down to the "realms of hell", and all the way up to the highest levels of "divine realms" they could go to. Conclusion I have heard many bogus and untrustworthy accounts of astral travel in my life. However, the ones above, I can all vouch for. They were told to me by trustworthy friends, in a natural and unforced manner. There were no reason or anything to gain for them, cooking up these stories. It was simply a natural part of the conversations I shared with them during my time with them. I consider them quite "juicy" and interesting I hope to also learn astral travel someday Now please, what do you have to say about my 4 initial questions: 1) Have you astral travelled? If yes, could you elaborate how you got to be able to do that, as well as share some experiences 2) Do you know any trustworthy stories (about friends, teachers etc) about astral travel? If so, please share 3) Do you know any qigong or meditation methods for astral travelling you could share? 4) Do you know any qigong or meditation teachers (trustworthy and authentic) who teach astral travel?

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

Some years ago my uncle went to India and bought a Shiva Nataraja Statue for me, but recently I'm discovering that I shouldn't keep this statue at home If I don't practice hinduism, can someone please tell me what should I do? Thanks in advance!

First I realize that the general discussion for this is probably not the best place but since it involves both Buddhist and Hindu as well as theist and atheist views that it didn't belong well in either sub-forum category exclusively. So I opted for the "neutral" ground of the general discussion. So now on to the topic. The Hindus (and most other theistic religions in general which is to say most other religions) say that there is a "soul" or a self and by extension an ultimate self which is usually called God. The Buddha said that there is no permanent, unchanging, essential self or soul and rejected the notion that we come from any sort of ultimate or greater self commonly known as God. He went on to say that the feeling that we have of having a "self" is an illusion from the function of various processes working together. So without getting too nuanced I would like to hear various thoughts on this topic and reasons for thinking them. Do we have a real self? Or do we just think we do?

Peace, relaxation, joy! My New Year wish that yang and yin become more balanced and the TDB experiences 24 hours without squabbling (like that is ever going to happen).

I just published my new book yesterday, September 11, 2019. The name of the book is ‘Discovering God: Bridging Christianity, Hinduism and Islam’. It is available in both kindle and paperback. Kindle version is live but the paperback version is still under review. I will add the link to it once it is ready. This book is a step towards bridging all religions. Out of 100 readers, I am sure that it will make a difference to at least 10 people. This book explains the central nerve, the essence of all religions. I have written this book hoping that it will contribute something towards religious tolerance, unity of mankind and the ability to really see that all religions lead to the same truth. I am a running a free promotion for the book from Thursday, September 12, 2019, 12:00 AM PDT to Friday, September 13, 2019, 11:59 PM PDT. During this time, you can download the book for free. You don’t have to have a kindle. You can download kindle app for android, create a free amazon account if you don’t have one, login and download the book for free during the period of promotion. Please leave your reviews after you read the book, to let the world know about this book. This book was possible only by Grace. Here is the book description as it is given in Amazon: ” God is the most misused and misunderstood word in the world. There are thousands and thousands of religions in this world but the major religions that stand out in the list include Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Do they have anything in common or they are completely different from each other? In this book, I will show you how all the major religions of the world have the same central core and point to the same truth. I have quoted numerous verses from the Bible, Bhagavad Gita and Quran and have given a detailed commentary on them in the process of explaining the truth about these religions. I have unraveled the secrets of Greek mystery schools, Upanishads, Kabbalah, Hasidism, Sufism and other mystic traditions in the book. But this book needs a complete open-mindedness and patience from your part. By buying this book and sharing it with your friends, you are contributing something to the world peace. I strongly believe that this book will bring a change. “ US readers, click here to get the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XRJ3GWS Indian readers, click here: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07XRJ3GWS

I did not see the direction this article ultimately took coming. I've been feeling burned out at work. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to keep this going for another 15-20 years before I can retire. So, one might think this is going to be your typical business/career advice article. It starts out telling a story about an unnamed (but real) celebrity/hero then moves on to Darwin, Bach, and some others. Then it takes a turn with an account about a visit to a guru in India, Sri Nochur Venkataraman, and lands on the topic of Vanaprastha (loosely translated as "retiring into the forest"). Then it goes on to discuss corpse meditation done in many Theravada Buddhist monasteries. Anyway, lots to think about. It's a fantastic read. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-peak-professional-decline/590650/

It is interesting to read and listen to Awakened teachers that have come from a long established lineage as well as teachers that have Awakened and then adopted a long established lineage as their teaching. It is also interesting to see Awakened teachers using their own words from the present and often changing the typical fashion of going about helping students to be pointed in practice and general sniffing around trying to get a clue what this “illusion” thing is all about. There is no question that there are benefits to a great well established lineage. And it is very possible for an Awakened teacher to adopt a lineage in which they have no prior base. But I am acutely aware that many of the past lineages of the very best and most productive sorts have wording and dogma that make it nearly impossible to clarify in a new students mind even the slightest whiff of what they are actually alluding to and teaching. Some of the most refreshing and superb Awakened teachers are uncompromisingly direct and clarify the “project” of Awakening so simply and so well that by comparison many extraordinary old lineages appear to actually create more detours than road maps by entailing incalculable destinations and using words and structures of teaching that are basically misleading by their vary exactness. I am not starting this topic with any objection - it is a remembrance that when I Awoke the experience was so utterly and completely unlike anything I had read anywhere in the great ancient traditions that I was completely unsure of what had transpired. And it is in this remembrance that this topic is created. I am from the “long” traditions - lots of practice and the idea that perhaps in ten lifetimes you might Awaken - they are in many ways as perfect as they are full of bullshit. Yet some of the emerging short forms - particularly those engineering quick Awakening are also very questionable. But some new teachings are very clear and offer real lasting abiding Awakening from simple yet strong well worded contemporary guidance. What cannot be expressed very clearly to many reading this is that once Awakened some stupidly simple teachings are clearly seen to be among the very best teachings to Awaken and some of the most superb and complex lineages make it nearly impossible to see the Forrest through the trees. Some seemingly very simple Awakened teachers are unquestionably the best pointers to truth and best practices for Awakening to Self, while some of the most authoritative Awakened teachers from some of the oldest and finest lineages are simply so immersed in initiations and transmissions and proper progress that they have put the cart before the horse to a great extent - as though teaching post Awakening work is best done prior to Awakening. It is tempting to utilize an old and wonderful lineage as an Awakened person considering or being brought into teaching - everything is already laid out and easily tweaked where one would like and students can plug into the tradition. It can also radically slow further progress in one’s post Awakened unfolding. And deep within one Awakened can wonder if teaching is what will be happening if at all. I also partly bring this up because of how brutally some “advanced” seekers judge “simple teachers” who are often obviously to those Awake of the highest attainment and often speak little from any lineage at all.

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.

Hi there, I had the realisation of having aphantasia about 2 years ago, ever since then my mind became fixated on curing myself and redeveloping the skill possesed by 99% of the population. Through my fixation i learned obsessively about everything i could relate to it: digestion, diet, nutrition, leaky gut, chakras, energy, reiki, ibogaine, ayahuasca, god In part i am very grateful to it, because only through the realisation of having aphantasia did i become spiritual, reiki level 2, meditation initiated and fundementally a happier human being through my reconnection with the devine. Every free moment that i have i like to read about ayurveda, yoga, hinduism, energies etc and super interested in alternative medicines considering that i have tried most of them and on my way to study them on my new life path of becoming a natural healer So happy for my new life path, but still there is the aphantasia hanging around almost like a curse. I have considered many causes including stuff like carmic debts and i am almost out of ideas... I am begging anyone that might have tools to help me understand and overcome the affliction known as aphantasia. Thank you in advance, Human

I travel a lot and I'm sure others here do too... I want to ask what the most powerful temples, churches, locations, or objects you've experienced coming in contact with. It would be helpful if you would list: 1) The name of place or object 2) Your tradition 3) Your experience with said place or object 4) Approx. date or year of said experience I would like to collect these in one place for their potential as tradition-agnostic. For example if a buddhist has been to many places, but their most powerful experience was in a buddhist temple - then that would be accounted for here. Furthermore, if a Hindu, Buddhist, and Jew all had a most powerful experiences in the Himalayas or Pyramids, then that would be interesting to account for here as well! I also want to account for the potential of experiences with objects - like coming in contact with the remains of a Saint, for example...

I want to learn about Hinduism.

In one aspect this idea of being celibate and doing meditation daily seems enticing, but living in modern society, I doubt anyone is going to be successful in achieving enlightenment. It seems like becoming a monk is the noble path for fulfilling enlightenment. It also seems that many religions tie celibacy very closely to enlightenment. But does becoming a monk and pursuing Buddhism full time lead to enlightenment in actuality? Or does it just increase your chances? I know it would make celibacy easier, but is there really a purpose to all that? They say desire is the root of suffering. Is there more suffering in this life that is outweighs the positives? This leads to deeper questions like what is the purpose of life? Is it just to procreate? Can one find peaceful/enlightened states while procreating? Is this 10 day silent retreat (Vipassana) just a way of forgetting these animalistic urges short-term? Or does is lead to a powerful new technique for developing mental stillness while overcoming the rigors of everyday society? I recently picked up the Bhagavad Gita due to suggestions by Indian spiritual readings and I found it saying that we are nothing and everything at the same time. It doesn't seem like procreating or even having intercourse embodies this philosophy. The texts goes so far as to say we shouldn't take part in worldly pleasures. Yet, I have also read that the Hindu gods rejoice in sexual intercourse and even embrace it for marriage and with multiple partners. This leads to a word that has been on my mind many a day lately and that's the subject of lust. Lust to me is what I find in a partner. And isn't love the way we are suppose to feel for all other humans? I have a partner, but my animalistic instincts direct me away from having just one partner. And that brings me to my point of if having a partner is even good in the first place. I feel in every day society and partner life/attachment, at least moving out to a semi secluded area down the road would be the most logical. That way I would not have to deal with the ongoing issue of lusting for the opposite sex. Thoughts? Warmly, Chi Boy

In Buddhism there is Angulimala, a serial killer who killed 999 people and wore their fingers around his neck in a garland. After meeting the Buddha he threw away his weapons, took up meditation, and became an Arahant. There is also Milarepa, a sorcerer that summoned a hail storm killing 35 people. He sought out a guru and strived in meditation for 12 years until becoming a fully enlightened Buddha. Are there any characters like this in Hinduism? Edit: Also in Taoism because why not.

Hi, I came across this web page the other day. It is a comparison of the types of siddhis or powers achieved by Buddhists and Hindus. Is there any truth to the idea that Buddhism is superior to Hinduism because the achievements are greater? Is Yogi C. M. Chen authentic? He seems to have advanced knowledge of many things.. He is claiming that Brahma was converted by Buddha... http://www.yogichen.org/cw/cw28/bk029.html Comments? TI