What is this shimmering light?

[Horus]

I've seen this light many years ago, after about 3 years of zazen meditation I would see it daily.

 

It's back..

 

When I do embrace the tree stance and open my eyes there is a shimmering light in the circle made by my arms - like a portal of light undulating.

 

I can see it now anytime I look down the end of my nose and become still...I just saw it taking a p.

 

 

[gendao]

Is it about the size of a pencil eraser and look sort of like this?

[silent thunder]

These started for me when I was meditating in pitch dark with my eyes open.

They progressed from simple colors telescoping inward and outward, to spiraling geometric shapes of oscillating colors.

 

I don't get the light when I'm in Qi Gong with eyes open, but if I close them for more than a few heartbeats, the show begins.

 

I'm not particularly attached to it any more, it's comforting in a way and was fun for a while.

Now it's just part of one of the processes that's me, or my idea of me... or something...

 

edit: as far as I know it's the third eye firing off

Edited July 9, 2014 by silent thunder

[Horus]

Is it about the size of a pencil eraser and look sort of like this?

No, it's not like that.

 

But, actually I've been seeing that aswell at times - the purple light not the mosaic of lines.

 

It's similar (the OP light in question) to a desert mirage - as if I have a sea of light undulating like the ripples of a pond. silver/white.

[Horus]

These started for me when I was meditating in pitch dark with my eyes open.

They progressed from simple colors telescoping inward and outward, to spiraling geometric shapes of oscillating colors.

 

I don't get the light when I'm in Qi Gong with eyes open, but if I close them for more than a few heartbeats, the show begins.

 

I'm not particularly attached to it any more, it's comforting in a way and was fun for a while.

Now it's just part of one of the processes that's me, or my idea of me... or something...

 

edit: as far as I know it's the third eye firing off

ok, so this has been developing for me meditating in near pitch black and eyes open also.

 

and yes, I need to close my eyes briefly first - usually.

 

Its come to a point where I can see it if i'm calm enough.

 

not seen geometrics and colours in it yet though

[silent thunder]

Nice! Good to know you were doing the darkness training too.

I've noticed in a particular room, if I practice after sundown but during some residual light, the shadows on my wall, with the small imperfections in the paint, will create flowing scenes and intense visuals if I hold my gaze on one point for any length of time.

 

The peripherals start going off and then a suggestion of something comes about and suddenly, wham there's a whole vista appearing before my open eyes on the wall in grayscale with a bluish filter affect from the evening sun color.

 

These can hold for some length of time as I don't chase them or fill them, just empty observation.

 

Then the shadows will shimmer and flow randomly for a while before another scene settles on my thought pond.

 

I've noticed the light as I'm in Qi Gong with eyes closed, but after this I'm going to try it open eyed in a dark room for a while and see where this takes me.

 

Nice topic, thanks for posting.

[Horus]

great silent thunder!

 

"These can hold for some length of time as I don't chase them or fill them, just empty observation."

 

You've clearly developed a great non-attachment.

 

I've recently started practicing zhine' (part of tibetan dream and sleep yoga) - which is expanding this greatly.

 

Yes, darkness practice.

 

Quite by circumstance, I've been doing my meditation practice in the darkness of the morning hours.

 

This came about due to wanting to keep a balance between practice and family/partner.

 

I practice in the morning for 2 hours while my wife, dog and cat sleep in our bedroom.

 

We had to black out the room a few months back because the halogen street light was so full-on and shining right in the window.

 

So, I just go with the flow.

 

The open eye bit I adopted to keep focused as I've been having trouble grounding with neigong work over the last 6 months (ET trouble).

 

Then I get to the next level in my Kriya Yoga practice and am asked to work in a blacked out room, and then I get to my next level in Time Travel training (and dream yoga) and am asked to open eye meditate.

 

So both are fantastic - JAJ states that open-eye meditation can/does cause "agitation", and i've since read that this is one of the first stages/obstacles in the zhine' practice - and a stage that is moved beyond - to the point of cultivating the "calm abiding" mind (which is taking the "empty observation" to the abiding in non-dual presence level, "rigpa".

 

The dark room thing is very interesting.

 

I've seen my wife's spirit come and go, and her hun coming and going, other spirit orbs darting around, i've seen through my bedroom walls with eyes closed a few times too.

 

It all comes down to calm abiding mind, and the development of jing, qi, and shen transformations.

 

But, in all of that I'm not sure what this shimmering silver/white light is.

 

I've heard of a reference to the shimmering light which is the food for the golden fetus - and it resonates with that - but my neigong is only starting...

[Spotless]

I am not used to some of the terms you are using but this is the beginning of clairvoyance - it is not 3rd eye in the larger sense but on the way.

Try not to label down what the experience is - this will impede your growth. In fact try to move into a neutral state of seeing without any analytical aspect. Analysis afterword is an impedance as well.

 

A room with white walls is helpful for eyes open.

 

A slight amount of light is helpful for eyes open.

 

Also try the following with eyes open and also closed:

 

Create a fist but with both first pointing fingers pointed at each other.

Keep them about 1/2 an inch apart and look at them.

From time to time bend one so that it is not inline with the other.

 

This Requires NO concentration

 

Breath regularly through this.

 

You may begin to notice the small chakram at the tip of each finger, it is quite specific.

Notice the current passing through this connection and play around with breaking the connection and then connecting it again.

There is also a magnetic wave at each tip that reacts to the other tip by proximity - it is exactly like a magnetic wave, visually they appear the same.

You can also practice heating the area between the tips and when you get to the colors - changing them.

 

You can also play with a pointing finger at your palm chakra.

 

Point with a finger at your palm and then move out to the tip of each finger - this can often be quite visual as you break from the palm and move outward.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Spotless

[Horus]

Thanks spotless!

 

I've no time to respond to this fully right now, but will do...

 

in the meantime you may want to look at this too... http://taoistbooks.cf/index.php/topic/34-invisibility/

 

Cheers!

[Horus]

I am not used to some of the terms you are using but this is the beginning of clairvoyance - it is not 3rd eye in the larger sense but on the way.

ok, so - clairvoyance...and what is the light? akasha? ether? or just the emergence of vision with the 3rd eye?

Try not to label down what the experience is - this will impede your growth. In fact try to move into a neutral state of seeing without any analytical aspect. Analysis afterword is an impedance as well. I agree, and yet I like to push that element, analysis brings with it cloudiness, as does discussing it with others. But I like to do that anyway, feel the cloudy impedance and just keep doing the same process through it until it clears - that way, i find, that next time I think about it or discuss it the impedance is diminished. Like taking it into the"real world lol" and it gets a battering, but then the consistency of prctice burns through it and it takes on a resiliance - making it stronger. All with no desire for that, just a wholey commitment to the process.

 

A room with white walls is helpful for eyes open. yes, have that.

 

A slight amount of light is helpful for eyes open. yes, have that too

 

Also try the following with eyes open and also closed:

 

Create a fist but with both first pointing fingers pointed at each other.

Keep them about 1/2 an inch apart and look at them.

From time to time bend one so that it is not inline with the other. yes, I do this already daily (without the fist - just hands facing each other in the same way - I will now add the fist.

 

This Requires NO concentration

 

Breath regularly through this.

 

You may begin to notice the small chakram at the tip of each finger, it is quite specific. yep - i get it on all my fingers

Notice the current passing through this connection and play around with breaking the connection and then connecting it again.

There is also a magnetic wave at each tip that reacts to the other tip by proximity - it is exactly like a magnetic wave, visually they appear the same. yes, i see these - like they radiate out.

You can also practice heating the area between the tips and when you get to the colors - changing them. ok

 

You can also play with a pointing finger at your palm chakra. ok

 

Point with a finger at your palm and then move out to the tip of each finger - this can often be quite visual as you break from the palm and move outward. ok, like tracing the metacarpals to the tips?

ok, thanks spotless - i'll incorporate these into the mix.

 

Bless you!

[Fazeng]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene

[GrandmasterP]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene

 

Yep, 'Phosphene' is one of the labels sometimes attached to the phenomenon under discussion.

It's a bit scientistic for my taste is 'Phosphene' and always puts me in mind of gas-warfare for some reason.

" Shimmering Light" is a far nicer descriptor IMO.

[Neophyte]

I'm thinking that it could be Negative Spirit. This should not be mistaken for positive spirit which will be achieved by practicing the first six steps of Taoist Yoga. Chapter 7 of Taoist Yoga talks about negative spirit which manifests as a light that appears during practice. It is harmless but should not be mistaken for positive spirit which is what we each need to be pursuing in our practice, and which indicates the fullness of generative force and vitality.

[Taomeow]

In the tradition I follow we work with this light, it is part of the phenomena of ling -- supernatural intelligence.

[Taomeow]

Supernatural intelligence, you call it? At the end of the day (at the end of the vast Tao), I would think that one arrives at the most ordinary, most natural intelligence known. Is this what could be referred to a supernatural? Because so few acheive this knowledge?

 

 

I think you're right in assuming that the most natural intelligence is the destination.

And in suspecting that few people today know what it is.

 

E.g. few people realize that their intelligence is not physically located in their head, in fact in my tradition it is assumed that the head is the place from which it most readily dissipates. Intelligence in the modern conditioned head is not incoming, it is outgoing, so to speak.

 

"Supernatural" refers to intelligence present in realms which regular common-denominator contracted, conditioned intelligence has no access to. Something that is broadly (and IMO not very accurately) referred to as "spiritual" realms. Few modern people are at home there, but one's "supernatural intelligence" (which is something all people start out possessing) is. So, there's taoist practices for organizing this dissipated, disorganized intelligence, incorporating it back into your overall consciousness, including it into your overall intelligence.

 

This process is very resistant to words -- it's a set of practices. The name this spirit is called is just one possible label, it is not the phenomena itself, as usual. The light associated with some manifestations of these phenomena is simply recognized (some people do mention naturally and spontaneously seeing it before, usually in childhood -- which is the case with me too), and then put to use, put to work in aiding this consciousness-organizing process. Taosim only gets metaphysical when doing so serves a purpose, and "supernatural" is a label that serves the purpose of pointing a finger in a certain direction, is all. To wit, in the direction of realms "ordinary" either hasn't explored yet or has forgotten. But, yes, at the end of the day, the most far-out supernatural phenomena are only natural.

[Horus]

This process is very resistant to words -- it's a set of practices.

 

What tradition? What is the name of this particular "shengong" if it has one in your tradition?

[silent thunder]

Interesting, TaoMeow!

 

TM, I got to hand it to you for TTB inspiration. It was your mention of Ted Kaptchuk's book that led me to learn about tong shen ming (penetrating divine illumination). A love affair from deep within was revealed to me as I read those pages. Clarity of "what." Haha! Just took some time to for "where," "how" and "when" to show up. Haven't gotten many clues to "why," but I trust as I go.

 

So, in a sense, you have been part of my journey home (still walking!). Thank you!

Looks like I need to get this book. What's the title?

[Taomeow]

What tradition? What is the name of this particular "shengong" if it has one in your tradition?

Longmen Pai. The work with this aspect is an element of a practice known as Lingbao Bifa.

 

And @Rainbowvein: thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you've found mine useful on your journey.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Taomeow

[Horus]

Longmen Pai. The work with this aspect is an element of a practice known as Lingbao Bifa.

 

And @Rainbowvein: thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you've found mine useful on your journey.

 

ok, found this:http://thetaobums.com/topic/7008-yin-xian-fa-and-ling-bao-bi-fa-cultivation-methods/

 

is it: [8] moving the refined vapor to the primordial regions?

 

Also - regarding [5] ejecting the golden sparks from behind the navel,

 

I think I've witnesses this....with internal vision.

 

Maybe I'm progressing through these steps without trying to?

[Taomeow]

ok, found this:http://thetaobums.com/topic/7008-yin-xian-fa-and-ling-bao-bi-fa-cultivation-methods/

 

is it: [8] moving the refined vapor to the primordial regions?

 

Also - regarding [5] ejecting the golden sparks from behind the navel,

 

I think I've witnesses this....with internal vision.

 

Maybe I'm progressing through these steps without trying to?

 

Sorry, I don't know (though I'll have to find out at some point) what it's called in English, I never learned this in English -- in the Russian translation it's referred to as "дух и свет," and both words have pages of meanings. But in any event, it's part of the whole method and I wouldn't know if it's of any usefulness by itself, without what is done before, during, and after.

 

As for your progress -- you are a better judge of it than me I'm sure.

I asked the master about the significance of these phenomena when they arise by themselves, describing to him what I occasionally saw spontaneously, before learning the practice. In particular, aside from the golden sparks which I always saw in the dark as a child, I sometimes see the slowly rotating yin-yang symbol, and the pulsating, shimmering "film" or "field" some bums describe, and I hoped he would tell me I'm naturally gifted and this is a sign of progress or some such. But he shrugged it off.

[Spotless]

Posted 09 July 2014 - 04:17 PM

Spotless, on 08 Jul 2014 - 23:05, said:

I am not used to some of the terms you are using but this is the beginning of clairvoyance - it is not 3rd eye in the larger sense but on the way.

ok, so - clairvoyance...and what is the light? akasha? (No) ether? (No) or just the emergence of vision with the 3rd eye?

(Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Clairsentience, Intuition - these are all aspects of the third eye but not the same. Finer alchemical work on oneself is necessary for 3rd eye)

 

(The shimmering light you saw was light that was shimmering - it was not negative by the way)

 

Try not to label down what the experience is - this will impede your growth. In fact try to move into a neutral state of seeing without any analytical aspect. Analysis afterword is an impedance as well. I agree, and yet I like to push that element, analysis brings with it cloudiness, as does discussing it with others. But I like to do that anyway, feel the cloudy impedance and just keep doing the same process through it until it clears - that way, i find, that next time I think about it or discuss it the impedance is diminished. Like taking it into the"real world lol" and it gets a battering, but then the consistency of prctice burns through it and it takes on a resiliance - making it stronger. All with no desire for that, just a wholey commitment to the process.

 

A room with white walls is helpful for eyes open. yes, have that.

 

A slight amount of light is helpful for eyes open. yes, have that too

 

Also try the following with eyes open and also closed:

 

Create a fist but with both first pointing fingers pointed at each other.

Keep them about 1/2 an inch apart and look at them.

From time to time bend one so that it is not inline with the other. yes, I do this already daily (without the fist - just hands facing each other in the same way - I will now add the fist.

(Closed fist just concentrates energy to one finger - planning with it works well like you are doing)

 

This Requires NO concentration (Very important "rule")

 

Breath regularly through this. (Very important if you would like to progress well in this)

 

You may begin to notice the small chakram at the tip of each finger, it is quite specific. yep - i get it on all my fingers

Notice the current passing through this connection and play around with breaking the connection and then connecting it again.

There is also a magnetic wave at each tip that reacts to the other tip by proximity - it is exactly like a magnetic wave, visually they appear the same.

 

yes, i see these - like they radiate out.

(And they bend like a magnetic field - two different things - one is the chakra the other outward radiation is the larger auric field in the first layer)

 

You can also practice heating the area between the tips and when you get to the colors - changing them. ok

 

You can also play with a pointing finger at your palm chakra. ok

 

Point with a finger at your palm and then move out to the tip of each finger - this can often be quite visual as you break from the palm and move outward.

 

ok, like tracing the metacarpals to the tips?

(Palm chakra to finger tip chakras - feel the pathways - their is a chakra between every joint in the body - think feel hear energy not "things" such as metacarpals)

 

(Eyes have many chakras - many filters)

 

I have no idea how you guys add colored fonts, smileys and other great editing functions.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Spotless

[Horus]

thanks spotless

 

"I have no idea how you guys add colored fonts, smileys and other great editing functions."

 

[Spotless]

thanks spotless

 

"I have no idea how you guys add colored fonts, smileys and other great editing functions."

 

 

The editing board which I am very familiar with and that you have shown above does not appear on my window.

Do I need to push something to make it appear?

[Horus]

The editing board which I am very familiar with and that you have shown above does not appear on my window. Do I need to push something to make it appear?

it just pops up when I click into the space for the post text....but upper right on the window (the post text window) is a little arrow button to expand this tool...

[Spotless]

I appreciate your help on this - but it does not show up on my iPad.

I am all Apple - perhaps that is the reason it is missing?