Birch Posted January 20, 2011 "i LOVE YOU! " I love you too Keep on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rex Posted January 20, 2011 Hi Mewtwo, Now what's that saying? Ah yes, there's no such thing as failure, only feedback. You've been given fairly brusque feedback in this and other threads but the essence is build a strong foundation and really look into and clarify your motivation. There's nothing wrong with enthusiastic non-authoritative sharing of information as a friend with all the usual caveats this involves, especially so given the subject matter of the material. Kudos to you for the openeness and courage to expose yourself and seek advice and, as another saying goes, don't let the bastards grind you down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sahaj Nath Posted January 20, 2011 You mean, like what dedicated practice with a powerful qigong form can do? Rainbow_Vein FTW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
三江源 Posted January 20, 2011 Bill: Hi Ben, I've heard your taking a vacation for two weeks. Ben: Yea Bill I'm going to take Molly and the kids for a two week dark room retreat Bill: WTF? Why don't you go and visit Niagra Falls? Ben: Molly said all phenomena are like an illusion, so you know? Correct cogntion of samsara = epic fail made me LOL, ben. more or less a direct lift from my life with a buddhist bf when I was at college. I missed niagra. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ben Posted January 20, 2011 You mean, like what dedicated practice with a powerful qigong form can do? Taoist used dark cave retreats. Methinks it would balance the brain chemistry particularly pituitary gland and hypothalamus gland. Maybe has applications for treating mental illness? Maybe it might intensify the results of chi kung. The Taoist who developed the yin yang symbol spent a lot of time lucid dreaming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ben Posted January 20, 2011 made me LOL, ben. more or less a direct lift from my life with a buddhist bf when I was at college. I missed niagra. No niagra! No Fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mewtwo Posted January 21, 2011 i did not ask for your advise hundun. i asked about thogal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sahaj Nath Posted January 21, 2011 i did not ask for your advise hundun. i asked about thogal. um... okay. but you DID post this in a PUBLIC forum. so even if you don't take heed, others might. as is always the case in a PUBLIC forum. but feel free to put me on IGNORE, as i will continue to comment as i see fit. there are a number of GOOD teachers on this forum that could have given you the type of guidance that would actually lead to growth. you've been around this forum as long as i have, at least. yet my understanding and skills have nearly doubled since i first arrived here, and you've only recently acquired enough sense to STOP chasing after the great & magical Master Wan over at yogameditation. many of us patiently and painstakingly tried to answer your questions and steer you in the right direction. many times. i thought maybe you were a kid in his early teens. i had no idea you were as old as you are. you don't have the capacity to navigate this stuff on your own, and i don't say that to be mean. it's harsh, yes. but it's also true. and if you could swallow that and admit to yourself that you DO need guidance, you could have ALREADY (in the 3+ years you've been around this site) developed some of those skills that you've only read about in books. good luck. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eyes of Eagle Posted December 24, 2011 (edited) When you're in a black retreat, in a complete dark room, you can hear and see things. These are are hallucionatory experiences. You need this experience to "covince your mind" that visions are possible. You need some exercise to have a good and real experience or this will be just a mind game. The preliminaries in Yeshe Lama involves the three "bodies". I have some mind maps made in FreeMind to help me with this. You have nirmanakya, your phisical body and the physical appearance of all things. You have Sambhogakaya, a type of astral body, this is from the sanskrit Sambhoga that means sexual intercourse (when you find some sex scene in mandalas, that is SAMBHOGAkaya). You have Dharmakaya, dharma means many things as nature, moral etc. Dharmakaya is the real nature of the all things, your real nature. To train Nirmanakaya you need asanas. To "train" Sambogakhaya you need mantras. To train or attain or be Dharmakaya you have Thögal and other practices. Yes, after liberating yourself you can see the sun and see things. What type of things? Hallucionatory things, like ligths and sounds, balls of light, gods speaking to your ear. Without trainning this can be just a illlusion. You need to free yourself in the beginning. Go to a place, practice some relax (Nirmanakaya), pratice a minute of mantra (Sambhogakaya) and then be yourself. Be what you want whitout society: masturbate, laugh, run, spit etc. Just be yourself (if you have some experience in dark retreat, stay in the dark room, then you can do it more easily). If you find the trainning the teaching will come to you, with or without help of someone. Just try. Edited December 25, 2011 by Eyes of Eagle Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eyes of Eagle Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Although this appears now an almost dead topic, I was just browsing about Batman (!!!) and found this: Batman, Nightwing and Robin went across the world together following the path of Bruce's original training as a family. Seeking to rid himself of the paranoia and fear that had corrupted him, he had his personal demons cut out in a desert ritual performed by the Ten-Eyed Men. This broke him down and forced him to rebuild himself from the start.[145] Going through a spiritual purification ordeal called the 30 Days of Thögal in Nanda Parbat, he spent a month alone in the darkness and looked deeply into his own soul through induced hallucinations. (...) Bat-Devil makes his appearance by storming into GCPD Headquarters demanding the Commissioner when he is woken up as a sleeper agent. Shooting Batman in the chest, he sends him into cardiac arrest and near-death Bruce begins to hallucinate Bat-Mite.[162] Strapped into an operating chair in Bat-Devil's sanctum, he deliriously dreams of his encounters with Joe Chill and having tormented him into committing suicide. This begins flashbacks to his prior experiences with hallucination, including the 30 Days of Thögal[146] and the isolation chamber experiments conducted by Doctor Hurt. Source: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_%28Bruce_Wayne%29 Edited January 2, 2012 by Eyes of Eagle Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mandrake Posted January 3, 2012 C T, I think part of the problem is the inability to accommodate to a culture where "just believe and do as I say" don't work. History here in the west has produced ample evidence of the power of scrutiny and systematic questioning and improvement (results of science is one example, secularization and individual freedoms is another). Many teachers from the east seem to shun scrutiny of any sorts, it may be a sort of taboo. Western students often want to know full explanations of origins, concepts and also seek proven efficacy, not least because of limited time, but to a plethora of different paths. Teachers that can accommodate to this gain respect. There could be done much to compare and validate systems. One example would be to systematically assign practices to test-groups and study the outcomes. If there is less results, the practice could be changed, tried again, and if it still fails in showing superior outcomes, could be delegated to a lower status. Questions that make some teachers uncomfortable may be many, but I believe the right approach is to prepare for them. Many of the preliminaries are overly ritualized, and when students observe quick, powerful responses in other open and simple systems, of course they start to doubt. I'm not necessarily attacking any specific path, I just think that honest discourse about spirituality is beneficial. A friend who did a certain style of Theravada vipassana finally came to a certain stage, that tend to be long and painful in practicioners who may have to wait for months, years to overcome it. My friend practiced a certain form of qigong which transferred him to the next, fast. This kind of information is important and most helpful to share and communalize! Mandrake Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C T Posted January 3, 2012 This video sums up the point i want to make. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eyes of Eagle Posted January 5, 2012 (edited) In terms of practice, my own personal experience says that The Flight of the Garuda (that can be found or bought everywhere) is the best "separation and breakthrough" for western minds. The practice begins simple, asking things like: Where is your mind now? In you feet? In your penis? In your head? In your eyes? In your heart? What is the color of your mind? Black? Blue? White? Golden? If you mind is in your body, what happens when you die? Where will be your mind? You need to ask again and again until you perceive that mind is not from this realm of illusion, this world is just a dream. Then you can find that mind, in terms of this world adjectives, is empty. After these there are meditations for shape, budhahood meaning etc. With The Flight of the Garuda you can separate your sem from your rigpa, and discover that you are more than this. In other words: separation from the views, because everything is the same. But, if this is true: a killer has a naturally illuminated center? A raper has a rigpa center? If you purify from the 5 agregates using chakras or philosophy is an unnecessary debate, in one sense all the techniques are one and same technique in various forms until you find rigpa. But study and meditation are the keys. Edited January 7, 2012 by Eyes of Eagle Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CobraCommander Posted October 18, 2013 Having read this entire thread, I realize how much I have yet to learn. And how unfocused I am. All good to recognize, but of course a momentary bummer. Thank you, all posters involved! The journey continues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
