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Was in the park yesterday morning, doing dao gong and Tai chi with my friends. We’ve been practicing at this specific park for close to 10 years now, normally from late spring through fall, as winters in Chicago are brutal. As we were doing the meditation, I started to see what seemed like cobwebs of white light all over, all around us. It is interesting it was visible with both eyes open and closed. Very interesting phenomenon, thought I’d drop this pebble in the proverbial pond and see what happens

Yes, I have seen this a few times in my life. Once, age 19 in the broad daylight while simply walking across my college campus this appeared slowly as very gossamer prismatic lines like vertices, seemingly stretching between every object you could name or call a separate "thing". It came with it the ability to seemingly know anything I wanted about those objects, but it was actually impossible to ask any questions, which I now realize, was because this visualization (for want of a better word) was only a relative representation of the deeper reality of unity/"emptiness". The next time I saw it, I had taken a low dose of MDMA and out walking by the ocean in the evening. It was most visible in the connections of the stars to each other. I would agree that this experience is where our contemporary stories of "Indra's Net" come from, and that such experiences are universally available, though still rare or possibly commonly dismissed as hallucination or mental illness. In the Buddhist model I would put this phenomena (like most "supernatural" events) squarely in the "Arising and Passing" category of the "Progress of Insight". These phenomena don't MEAN anything, except that your practice is exceptionally deep in the moment you are experiencing it, IMHO. That's good! More on the "Arising and Passing": https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-iv-insight/30-the-progress-of-insight/4-the-arising-and-passing-away/ More on the Progress of Insight (this is unlikely to benefit most casual practitioners): https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-iv-insight/30-the-progress-of-insight/ I include the links above NOT because the "Progress of Insight" or "Arising and Passing" represent that ABSOLUTE TRUTH about these experiences and are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT about what they are, but because, as a description and working theory it expresses much of what I would say about this phenomena. Like ALL theories, religions, and stories about phenomena there just ISN'T a right answer about what they are, except to say that they aren't the full depth of understanding because they are impermanent and they DON'T mean anything specific except that you are "getting there". Of course, such things continue to show up even after you believe you have "arrived". (Hint: You never completely arrive! There is nowhere to GO! Just this is IT! ) Some other experiences I have had that fit this category: A whispy "fog" (seen with eyes open OR closed) that starts to form and not quite envelope the visual boundaries seeming to come from behind, and then almost closing the visual space. This usually happens when concentration/absorbtion is very deep but not concentrated on a particular object, as evidenced by intense "Nada Sound"/Celestial Chorus/Ear Ringing. A nice discussion on this predating my time here: A toroidal distortion in the shape of visual space, where the horizon is slightly curved to the right and left, and the sky and ground are turned under slightly. The perspective seems to be from the empty center. The same conditions apply - deep concentration, no object, Nada Sound. I first saw this during my "awakening" when the first taste of center-less, complete "no-self" occurred with it. I have seen it a couple of other times since then - once on the cushion and a few times when walking in meditation in the forest. It has no "meaning" really, beyond being a representation of the underlying non-dual reality. My teacher says that this one (to paraphrase), "Probably represents the limit at which "emptiness" can be seen by "beings" "with remainder". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(Buddhism)#Nirvana_with_and_without_remainder_of_fuel

This is what it sort of looked like

Reminiscent of 木 (mu4) wood, tree. 木 represents a tree with roots, trunk, and branches. Derived from oracle bone script.

No, the ‘may’ refers to the choice of simily. Most translate it as “is like a newborn baby.”

I more had in mind: Image 1 ; " I think this world is rotten ." Image 2 (later ) " udaimonia or death. “

I cannot see this web, but it does resonate with how I feel inside.

Great, now I understood how to proceed! Thanks

Ditto on the fog (I saw this on a regular basis during early days after getting initiated by my teacher), and the torroid (during practice, especially circulating the energy)

Hello, I would be interested in SKY. How does one go about to start it? You mentioned an initiation. Do I have to find a master for that? Are there SKY centers, or can it be done online?

Indra's net

Laughing in a good way; your enthusiasm is cheerful. Sounds fine to me.

Hi there! Fellow Wing Chun guy here (William Cheung's lineage). Haven't worked with Damo Mitchell in person, nor interacted with him via email, but I have done his MCO video course and developed a very obvious flow of energy through it in a matter of less than a month. I also use his books as reference for my growth, though they are also *not* for the system I practice, so I need to be very careful with them. Nonetheless, I come back to them from time to time to refresh, and always get something immediately useful.

Geeze ! I had many an 'ad hominem' from him and gave them back with toasted cheese on ...... but I don't recall us ever going as far as " immoral, wicked, of impure and suspect behavior, secretive in his acts, no recluse though pretending to be one, not practicing the holy life though pretending to do so, rotten within, lustful and corrupt ... " * ! You could post a Poll about it Coby * Edit ; well , not all in one sentence together . I certainly received the first three from him . and other stuff ... and Ummmm .... maybe not 'ad hominem' , as it was not directly aimed at me but .... something something , about my Mother ? .

A 'Yin-Yangy ' version Net of Being by Alex Grey

Yes that's Qi, the underlying web that keeps everything interconnected, and up and running. Good stuff. So, no practice in Chicago's snowfields?

Yeah ..... my first encounters with them was in the home at Christmas , I had never been in a pine forest until I was about 8 . I can remember smelling it through the house and would take the end seat on the lounge nearest it , if I could . However there are many types of 'pine' trees , maybe this accounts for it . How's this for a variation ; Greek pine nuts Aussie pine nuts Ah ha ! That must be it . I remember Dad and big brother going out to cut them . Only later we bought them, usually from fruit and vegetable markets . They would be stood up in a bucket of sand . Once when one was thrown 'out the back' ('bushland' ) after use I noticed its cut base had little roots coming out . I was told you cant transplant a pine tree by chopping the top off and sticking it the ground . I got upset and tried it anyway and nursed and looked after it and ..... proved them wrong .... HOORAY ! I 'saved' the Christmas tree ! But then Dad was ; '' We cant have a big pine tree growing up there ." and pulled it out and dumped it again . Another early 'piney memory ' ; we went on holidays and stayed by the water in a caravan park called 'Pine Park' . I was a bit older now and when we got there it turns out I had my own caravan, first time , I could believe it ! ( Later I realized why ... all those past holiday Mum and Dad had to 'behave' each night with little Nungers in there ). The noise of the wind through the pines was just great ! Can't describe all the wonderful effects the noise, the smell, the 'needle mat' underfoot .... abso luved it ! There must be some past connections ? Anyway I took 'The Wendigo ' by Algernon Blackwood with me to read ( have you read that ? ) What a book for a little kid to read , alone at night in a pine forest with the wind noise outside Sounds very alien to me but also delightful . We don't have native fir trees but do have a variety of pines . This type became famous for a while ( but now they are down to less than $100 for a small sapling , at first they were thousands of dollars ! The first ones planted out had a steel bar cage around them . ) https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2025/02/06/meet-the-worlds-most-safeguarded-tree-a-jurassic-survivor-thought-extinct-until-1994/.

I was trying to show a friend something from my YouTube channel, but the song that came up sounded terrible on her phone. I made a note to delete it from the channel when I got home. Back home, listening on the desktop, it sounded fine. What I've been listening to, from about ten years ago!

It seems to me that all substance on every plane is part of a much greater cosmic entity. If so, every body is karmic. This includes the rocks and trees and clouds I was once given a blue crystalline rock. It looked very pretty but my house spirit objected to it - because of the dark spirit flowing through it. So I was going to throw it in the creek over the back fence but the creek elemental did not want it. I walked down the road past some vacant treed lots, and none wanted it. Eventually I went some distance down stream on the creek and there was a lagoon that was indifferent so I threw the stone in, noting the place in case I had to move it again. It seems that all substance is connected to cosmic purpose

Wow, that’s wonderful. Reminds me of Alex Grey, e.g. this painting.

You´re surprised I know that Shadow_Self can overheat? I have many faults and deficiencies. I eat too many donuts and have never been able to do a pullup,; I won´t be any help if our car breaks down on the highway. But one thing I can do is read.

All I said was a sprinkle of common sense; it is not related to what I practice or teach. It has nothing to do with spirituality, esotericism, or magic. I would not study prosperity and finances from a homeless beggar, I would not study martial arts and health from an obese cripple, and I would not study spirituality and meditation from a weak, underdeveloped, monkey mind. To have common sense, all you need is honesty and a bit of decency. Do not pretend, do not lie to yourself or others, and do not sustain any kind of delusional belief. People who get triggered by this are revealing their aggrandizing internal problems and disharmony. In diagnostics and treatment, there is a principle called "dial testing." To locate a problem, you send a signal that triggers a reaction. You are merely speculating, and talking crap, to defend your Ego and Beliefs. How would you know what taoist practices are even, if you consider the guy above a taoist master? If he knew anything about Taoist practices he would never end up like this. It is like saying you know all about finances and trading, but your teacher is a nearby homeless beggar, who never had a penny in his pocket. Decades pass without any kind of spiritual progress, siddhis, advancement and evolution, and everyone reaps what they deserve. Many seem to prefer warm swamp of delusions and a social tea club of beliebers. Not my cup of tea.

Well ... if a bunch of people can be pardoned for trying to overthrow US democracy from within ....... why not ?