The source of tension and why high level teachings are necessary

[johndoe2012]

I had an experience lately where all tension in the body disappeared and a complete freedom and access to my real "self" appeared.

 

I feel that the source of tension comes from the grip of the ego-personality.

 

For a long time I couldn't understand why the hell I experienced so much tension no matter what I did.

 

Only when the grip of the personality was suspended could I understand why high level teachings / methods / lineages are necessary.

 

The ego-personality is basically a blocking mechanism. It cares for survival: getting money, food, clothing, a place to sleep and so on.

 

That blocking mechanism results in bodily tension. Bodily tension that translates into negative behavior.

 

The problem is that the ego-personality will do anything to stop you from waking up. It will lure you into "let's meditate for 40 years, that at least will keep me living on, ha ha!"

 

For me only high level methods or teachings can undo that grip. If one stays at the level of the ego-personality one will stay there forever.

 

There is no freedom as long as one stays at the lower personality level.

 

Breathing methods, meditation, philosophy: they are a replication of the real thing - something the ego-personality has invented as practices or things it can study and understand - which it never can because the real thing exist beyond it.

 

Anyway, I long for my own personality-death these days: I never wanted to be uptight, unfriendly and tense all the time.

 

I want freedom today, not in 40 years!

 

Hurray for all the high level teachings that exist today!

[soaring crane]

can you give some details on how to identify whether a teaching is "high level" or not?

[SecretGrotto]

It will lure you into "let's meditate for 40 years, that at least will keep me living on, ha ha!"

 

Yeah, there's a mini Drew Hempel inside each of us, ha ha!

[johndoe2012]

can you give some details on how to identify whether a teaching is "high level" or not?

 

without advertising or getting specific, lineages or teachers that claim "this is not just for health but for awakening to your true self".

[Brian]

Proof is in the pudding.

[Aetherous]

I feel that the source of tension comes from the grip of the ego-personality.

 

This is true.

 

I'd say...it's not about getting rid of our personality or destroying our self. Those methods won't work in the long run, and have unhealthy results. People have actually committed suicide because of believing in those paths.

 

But it's about clear, experiential realization that the notions of self are separate from us. The notions are just seen as energy, one could say, rather than us being caught up in the story and dragged through the mud of negativity.

 

You might want to study and practice Tibetan Buddhism, which has people who can describe it better than myself...but it's best to practice the methods and realize for yourself. The realization is not intellectual, but is an experience.

 

Or continue doing what you do, if it continues to work.

[johndoe2012]

Addendum: So you think you can spot a high level teaching? And if you could, could you stick to it for the rest of your life, without wavering? And if you could, what would you expect to accomplish? What does it mean to "awaken to your true self?"

Saying I can stick to things is a prediction, nobody can predict the future.

 

What to expect: I have no idea.

 

But at least be more relaxed.

[johndoe2012]

Hi chris, how can you know the goods behind the claim? My experience is: you can't.

Then you try teaching A, it doesn't work then try teaching B or invent your own methods.

 

Never giving up.

[johndoe2012]

.

Edited January 9, 2015 by chris d

[soaring crane]

well, I would say don't underestimate the value of Taiji (or similar qigong long-forms that require a lot of dedication to master).

[johndoe2012]

.

Edited January 9, 2015 by chris d

[lifeforce]

What is a 'high level' teaching ?

What is a 'low or mid level' teaching ?

Remember, what works for some, doesn't always work for all. We have to find our own way, often with many disappointments.

To me, the highest teaching is the path of the bodhisattva and probably the most difficult.

[liminal_luke]

Maybe there are exceptions, but in my experience a high level teaching is just a low level teaching practiced day after day over a long, long time.

 

Are the following activities low level or high level?

 

Standing like a "tree"

Awareness of breath.

Awareness of LDT

Smiling into the inner organs

 

Liminal

[soaring crane]

Maybe there are exceptions, but in my experience a high level teaching is just a low level teaching practiced day after day over a long, long time.

 

Are the following activities low level or high level?

 

Standing like a "tree"

Awareness of breath.

Awareness of LDT

Smiling into the inner organs

 

Liminal

 

yessss, Luke.... so elegant, so simple. Too simple for so many people. To master those things, and the movements in Taiji and Co., requires a mind like that described in the OP. That's why I suggested it. I get the feeling that Chris is ready to accept someone who promises something that's been accompanying him all along.

[johndoe2012]

.

Edited January 9, 2015 by chris d

[johndoe2012]

What is a 'high level' teaching ?

What is a 'low or mid level' teaching ?

Remember, what works for some, doesn't always work for all. We have to find our own way, often with many disappointments.

To me, the highest teaching is the path of the bodhisattva and probably the most difficult.

Yes, that's pretty difficult, I agree.

[johndoe2012]

The ego grip can be illustrated as a sponge being squeezed by a hand.

 

When the hand lets go you can feel all the tension you have been carrying around.

 

(you are the sponge)

 

So a high level "method" can undo that grip by as little force as possible because high level means high understanding of the issue causing the grip in this case.

 

Low level is like taking a hammer and banging on the grip but that doesn't work.

 

So low level = low understanding = forceful, like when politicians are forcing us to obey the law! :-)

Edited December 30, 2014 by chris d

[Owledge]

OK, this is not at all new stuff to me, so let me show you the next step.

 

After you realized the game that the ego is playing,

the next step is to accept the game and continue playing.

Aware of the game.

Because there's no alternative.

Unless you have a death wish, lol.

The awareness will grant you new dimensions of empathy

and give you new tools for deciding how much allowance to give to the ego.

 

 

As a possible reference, I could mention a book passage that this matter reminds me of:

Opening the Dragon Gate - The Making of a Modern Taoist Wizard

specifically: Wang Liping's dark night of the soul and the aftermath. Arranging yourself with the inevitability of your continued existence and rediscovering purpose.

[Owledge]

What is "God?"

What is NOT God?

[Guest munky]

Hey chris,

Im pretty sure a "high level" method is not needed in order to feel more relaxed and less tense. Changes in lifestyle, simple meditation or qigong to relax and slow down can achieve this. The tension an uptightness from practising energetics and in general is probably because the mind's intent is overactive -- during practice or throughout the day.
Finding the right balance between relaxing the the mind and focusing it's intent is important.

But this itself isn't really spiritual cultivation to increase wisdom and understanding. Actually, the process of that is very gradual and a continuous path over a lifetime. Because its increasing the amount of higher self in ourselves, instead of using our mind to forcefully as you say, reject the lower self. Not only will this impede our daily functioning, but the lower self and energy is actually still there, which is why you can't get rid of ego just like that, nor is it a good idea to in the first place.

It's a hard point for the mind to accept, and most would prefer to take a unique experience as a big change or awakening, thinking they've got "it".

 

 

Addendum: So you think you can spot a high level teaching? And if you could, could you stick to it for the rest of your life, without wavering? And if you could, what would you expect to accomplish? What does it mean to "awaken to your true self?"

I think those are some important points to consider for sure, rainbowvein

Expanding on this, a high level method, provided it actually was one, isn't going to confer high understanding just from trying it out for a bit before moving onto the next thing.

Hmm, so say you're practising a high level method daily. But the results are slow or you may not even be aware of them because it is so gradual. Perhaps the results will also not be what you expected, based on your current understanding of cultivation, so you are drawn to other lower methods that seem more interesting and worthwhile. Some that resonate more with your beliefs. And what about doubts about the practice that may begin to surface because of this -- as you aren't 100% sure it is in fact a high level method in the first place? For people, a lot of the difficulty lies in this. The actual practice probably isn't the hard part.

Edited December 30, 2014 by munky

[johndoe2012]

.

Edited January 9, 2015 by chris d

[soaring crane]

 

Not sure what you are saying in that last post of yours soaring crane?

 

sorry, that was a quick intuitive reply to Luke (and referring to you in the third person in your own thread seems pretty rude now, oops).

 

Anyway, all I meant was that in those dynamic forms of meditation, Taiji, Bagua, Gongfu, Qigong, and also the physical acts described by Luke (especially the Zhan Zhuang, imo), the momevent is the master. The posture is all there is. There's nothing else to learn. All those great masters haven't mastered anything. They've simply emptied themselves so completely that they've been mastered by their art.

 

That's why I said mastering Taiji and Co. requires a mind like the one you're looking for. In order to go through a set of Bagua Palms (taking an example you're familir with) correctly, you have to let the Bagua Palms unfold themselves through you. The more of your ego you can peel away, the purer and more fluid the form becomes.

 

The beauty and elegance of these systems is that, through simply focussing on the form, the other developments occur all on their own, over time, as is proper. And the more you practice, the more the peeling away of the ego funnels into your everyday Chris. It just happens. All you need is the desire, and the discipline (which you'll need regardless of the path you take; there are no easy paths here, and no one selling you magic coins that make it all happen).

 

Bagua is a big challenge, but there are many more approachable alternatives out there. All you need is someone who has peeled enough of his/her ego away to show you how it's done i.e. a decent teacher.

[Bearded Dragon]

Non-doing is not such a difficult concept. I think where people go wrong is that they intentionally not do something. That is doing. Regardless, nobody ever does anything anyway. The point of the realisation of non-doing seems to be to avoid the buildup of karmic energy related to ideas of a separate self who does something. I think that's the only difference between doing and non-doing.

[Spotless]

Non- doing comes as doing drops away.

This may be gradual and it may drop away in huge chunks.

[z00se]

Do what needs to be done, not one bit more