Ethereal Cultivation

[Desmonddf]

Greetings. Which forms of Ethereal (not related to the body, such as exercises or poses) cultivation do our members practice?

 

For instance, ethereal cultivation can happen through calligraphy, painting, writing poems and so on...

 

Do notice that I'm not including visualization and other meditative practices, as those aren't properly ethereal but usually based on breathing exercises. Practices which do not involve breathing or qigong poses are welcome

 

 

[manitou]

4 hours ago, Desmonddf said:

Greetings. Which forms of Ethereal (not related to the body, such as exercises or poses) cultivation do our members practice?

 

For instance, ethereal cultivation can happen through calligraphy, painting, writing poems and so on...

 

Do notice that I'm not including visualization and other meditative practices, as those aren't properly ethereal but usually based on breathing exercises. Practices which do not involve breathing or qigong poses are welcome

 

 

 

Not sure if this falls under cultivation, but I have a daily practice of going to the keyboard.  There is a mystical component to it, as prior to my kundalini awakening, I couldn't play anything by ear, always had sheet music.  Now I play everything by ear - but with a spiritual eeriness that I like.  It's like a spirit comes out of me and plays, and sometimes I'm not really the one playing it.  I feel the electrical current going from my hands to the keys, and I am in heaven.  I think no other thoughts as I do this, so I guess this would fall under Ethereal.  Feels like it to me.  

[silent thunder]

I walk.  Through my neighborhood.  Barefoot.

Usually in the hour before Sunrise and/or Dusk. 

Occasionally in the small hours after Midnight.

[C T]

I'm of the opinion that Breath is that which connects a practitioner (and sentiency for that matter) to the even and reassuring expansion & contraction of the eternal cosmic rhythm. Hard to imagine anything more ethereal than that. Outward aesthetic expressions (calligraphy, poetry etc) I'd see as interludes to bring one back into materiality without totally losing touch with said rhythm. Personally, I like tea rituals and chasing sunsets, but have never considered these as anything resembling etheric pursuits. Something to think about definitely. 

[C T]

And some pursue the meaning of balance by aligning outer forms with inner poise.... 

 

 

[manitou]

23 hours ago, C T said:

I'm of the opinion that Breath is that which connects a practitioner (and sentiency for that matter) to the even and reassuring expansion & contraction of the eternal cosmic rhythm. 

 

 

The Dao is like a bellows

[Desmonddf]

On 09/08/2019 at 11:21 PM, manitou said:

 

Not sure if this falls under cultivation, but I have a daily practice of going to the keyboard.  There is a mystical component to it, as prior to my kundalini awakening, I couldn't play anything by ear, always had sheet music.  Now I play everything by ear - but with a spiritual eeriness that I like.  It's like a spirit comes out of me and plays, and sometimes I'm not really the one playing it.  I feel the electrical current going from my hands to the keys, and I am in heaven.  I think no other thoughts as I do this, so I guess this would fall under Ethereal.  Feels like it to me.  

 

Yes, that's exactly it! Thanks for sharing

 

On 10/08/2019 at 11:56 AM, C T said:

I'm of the opinion that Breath is that which connects a practitioner (and sentiency for that matter) to the even and reassuring expansion & contraction of the eternal cosmic rhythm. Hard to imagine anything more ethereal than that. Outward aesthetic expressions (calligraphy, poetry etc) I'd see as interludes to bring one back into materiality without totally losing touch with said rhythm. Personally, I like tea rituals and chasing sunsets, but have never considered these as anything resembling etheric pursuits. Something to think about definitely. 

 

Breath can be used to acess the Dao, that's for sure. However, I do consider it quite physical - as it doesn't relate to the abstract... art in general is quite capable in bringing ethereal concepts into play. Just like how @manitou related

[manitou]

Okay, then under your conditions I do another Ethereal Practice.   I take a pen, close my eyes, and just do a slightly complicated squiggle.  After that, I do mindless coloration of the different sections and shapes - sometimes with funny little arrows or a row of dots or something.  But the trick is to turn the paper at a 90 degree angle every minute or so.  That way, the left brain doesn't get in the way, the right brain totally takes over.  Shapes, stories, and predictions come out of this.  I do just a tad of embellishment to help the viewer see the Whatever, and it is viewed from all four directions, different shapes and scenes emerging from all directions.  One of these was an award winner at an art show in Pennsylvania.

 

I think that might be what you're talking about?

[thelerner]

16 hours ago, manitou said:

Okay, then under your conditions I do another Ethereal Practice.   I take a pen, close my eyes, and just do a slightly complicated squiggle.  After that, I do mindless coloration of the different sections and shapes - sometimes with funny little arrows or a row of dots or something.  But the trick is to turn the paper at a 90 degree angle every minute or so.  That way, the left brain doesn't get in the way, the right brain totally takes over.  Shapes, stories, and predictions come out of this.  I do just a tad of embellishment to help the viewer see the Whatever, and it is viewed from all four directions, different shapes and scenes emerging from all directions.  One of these was an award winner at an art show in Pennsylvania.

 

I think that might be what you're talking about?

That sounds fascinating.  Could you ever share some of them with us? 

[manitou]

1 hour ago, thelerner said:

That sounds fascinating.  Could you ever share some of them with us? 

 

The most recent are done with colored magic markers, an ink pen, and colored pencils.  I do have one loaded on my computer.  I'll try to share it here.

 

It won't download.  I got 2 Download Faileds.  I dont know how to do anything on this twitterbox.

[thelerner]

2 hours ago, manitou said:

 

The most recent are done with colored magic markers, an ink pen, and colored pencils.  I do have one loaded on my computer.  I'll try to share it here.

 

It won't download.  I got 2 Download Faileds.  I dont know how to do anything on this twitterbox.

Thanks for trying.   Downloads here are tricky.  Sometimes it seems I can copy and paste, other times I can 'grab/highlight' and simply 'drag' things into a post.  Other times, nothing works.  

[Desmonddf]

21 hours ago, manitou said:

Okay, then under your conditions I do another Ethereal Practice.   I take a pen, close my eyes, and just do a slightly complicated squiggle.  After that, I do mindless coloration of the different sections and shapes - sometimes with funny little arrows or a row of dots or something.  But the trick is to turn the paper at a 90 degree angle every minute or so.  That way, the left brain doesn't get in the way, the right brain totally takes over.  Shapes, stories, and predictions come out of this.  I do just a tad of embellishment to help the viewer see the Whatever, and it is viewed from all four directions, different shapes and scenes emerging from all directions.  One of these was an award winner at an art show in Pennsylvania.

 

I think that might be what you're talking about?

 

If you're getting spiritual progress from that, then yes

[manitou]

Not sure what you mean by spiritual progress.  But it does put me in a place of no-mind, from which the creative springs as abstract things appear in one rotation dimension or the other.  This, as I see it, is to tap into the mind of Creation.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by manitou

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Sitting down with a guitar tuned in an open chord and bluesing out.

No thinking really, i take the sound and rythm that comes ans go exploring it, straight up improv with no singing. I dont think, not really following a pattern unless it happens, just using the physical knowledge of the instrument and how it sounds to just play. I used to do this with a qin too but then i snapped a string and didn’t really know how to replace it, i know fuck all about how to play it except a few pointershere and there. Improv.

 

Other music making that involves beats and rythms, especially dub mixing where the goal is to take a recorded track and work the mixing desk balances and effects to create a spatial and stripped down version of the recorded song while it plays back (”realtime remixing”) since it must be done with spatiality and spontaneous feeling.

 

I took to massaging others (means i study my perception and physical listening, no thinking) and letting my hands just find the places and work the issues out. Gives fair strenght training to fingers also, good kung fu!

 

I do gardening (especially weeding), target shooting and fidgeting with mechanical things and smoothing out cast burrs and lips, greasing contact surfaces up and just generally going for an experiential feeling and understanding of the design and function and making sure it runs smooth.

 

All of these can be done with a sort of either onepointedness or no-mind where i just stay open to the activity without thinking or trying to end up in a certain place. Feels great during and after, opens the mind, dissolves knots and clears worries and fears, stagnant feelings and takes nonverbal thinking, spontaneous reasoning and inner quiessence to the forefront.

 

All these are things i do about once a week at least, for a minimum of an hour and no set upper limit. Thats what i thought about when reading the OP at least, don’t know if they fit your question Desmond.

[Desmonddf]

On 24/08/2019 at 2:23 AM, Rocky Lionmouth said:

Sitting down with a guitar tuned in an open chord and bluesing out.

No thinking really, i take the sound and rythm that comes ans go exploring it, straight up improv with no singing. I dont think, not really following a pattern unless it happens, just using the physical knowledge of the instrument and how it sounds to just play. I used to do this with a qin too but then i snapped a string and didn’t really know how to replace it, i know fuck all about how to play it except a few pointershere and there. Improv.

 

Other music making that involves beats and rythms, especially dub mixing where the goal is to take a recorded track and work the mixing desk balances and effects to create a spatial and stripped down version of the recorded song while it plays back (”realtime remixing”) since it must be done with spatiality and spontaneous feeling.

 

I took to massaging others (means i study my perception and physical listening, no thinking) and letting my hands just find the places and work the issues out. Gives fair strenght training to fingers also, good kung fu!

 

I do gardening (especially weeding), target shooting and fidgeting with mechanical things and smoothing out cast burrs and lips, greasing contact surfaces up and just generally going for an experiential feeling and understanding of the design and function and making sure it runs smooth.

 

All of these can be done with a sort of either onepointedness or no-mind where i just stay open to the activity without thinking or trying to end up in a certain place. Feels great during and after, opens the mind, dissolves knots and clears worries and fears, stagnant feelings and takes nonverbal thinking, spontaneous reasoning and inner quiessence to the forefront.

 

All these are things i do about once a week at least, for a minimum of an hour and no set upper limit. Thats what i thought about when reading the OP at least, don’t know if they fit your question Desmond.

 

They do  

 

I've been very pleased with the answers. People seem to be doing quite well into the ethereal cultivation camp. It is very good to find people who have experienced the same things, and even finding some new creative ways of cultivating

[Rocky Lionmouth]

On 2019-08-26 at 4:04 AM, Desmonddf said:

 

I've been very pleased with the answers. People seem to be doing quite well into the ethereal cultivation camp. It is very good to find people who have experienced the same things, and even finding some new creative ways of cultivating

 

 

Word, this is good reading!

So, what ethereal cultivation do you engage in?

[Desmonddf]

4 hours ago, Rocky Lionmouth said:

 

Word, this is good reading!

So, what ethereal cultivation do you engage in?

 

Mostly writing. I've been letting myself go while writing, or at least trying to. Then, there's also dancing, even though that's very sporadic, and also stretching myself. I make a small ritual every morning: I wake up, stretch intuitively while trying to achieve a state of mindfullness, and then meditate about half an hour before starting my day. During this time I'm not exercising or doing stances, but rather letting my body wake and noticing it a piece at a time.

 

Then there's also caligraphy, but that's just so rare I'm dying to try it again. The sensation of the brush on paper is amazing when you're in the right mindset.

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Putting brush to surface is hard to beat! I mostly do european writing and lettering but that elusive but important feedback between surface and self with the brush as a translator is a very powerful exercise imo!

 

Morning time stretching is my most favourite, i have a mind to implement my sung gong as a morning ritual followed by profusive stretching. Also intuitive, there are fairly easy ways to access almost any part of the body through standing or sitting stretching, i recently found how to stretch out the bicep and upper shoulder and the space in between the scapulas in one two-direction exercise, total eureka-moment 😂