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There is nothing inherently wrong with things as they are. And there is nothing wrong with our reactivity, with wanting some things to be different. Problems arise for us when we are unable to accept things as they are but are unable to change them. Certainly we are free and encouraged to do what we can to change things that need to be changed but at some point we must face challenges in our lives which cannot be remediated to our satisfaction. In the "everything is perfect" approach (eg. dzogchen), the method is to face these things as they are without platitudes, without resistance, but directly, with honesty and openness; the word often used in the teachings is to face them nakedly. My teacher uses the language of "hosting" our challenges or, more precisely, hosting the sense of self who is struggling; host with a sense of openness, inner quiet, and genuine caring. In the beginning this is done under controlled circumstances, like the quiet room on the cushion. Eventually we can bring this more alive in our day to day on demand. If we can be with uncomfortable and challenging things in this way, we find they eventually become less loud, less invasive, and we begin to feel some space and freedom even in their presence. We are no longer over-identifying with that sense of self who is resisting and suffering. This is liberation, not escape. The challenges are still there but no longer command our attention and direct our actions in a dysfunctional way. This allows us far more flexibility which comes from a more grounded, clear, and creative place. A good example that practitioners can relate to is to look at what happens when we meditate in the presence of sounds or noise. In the beginning the noise can be very distracting. Our attention is repeatedly drawn away from openness (or whatever object of meditation we may be working with) and towards the sound, leading to thoughts and feelings that interfere with our practice. If we persevere, we become more familiar and stable and we find that the noise becomes less of a disturbance. It is still there but no longer interferes with our openness, focus, and stability. Eventually, the noise can become like fuel that strengthens our meditation, transforming from obstacle to support. This is a method of facing our problems directly and nakedly, giving them the time and space they need to express themselves fully in consciousness, and the time and space they need to liberate in the spaciousness of mind. This is the opposite of bypassing, in which problems are repressed, suppressed, or ignored in favor of focusing the attention on good feelings and words. Platitudes in this context are meaningless. Problems and challenges arise for us for many reasons and they need to be seen and heard, they need the time and space to express what needs to be expressed. Equally important is that they are put in proper perspective which is the role of meditation.

The Patience of Ordinary Things by Pat Schneider It is a kind of love, is it not? How the cup holds the tea, How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare, How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes Or toes. How soles of feet know Where they're supposed to be. I've been thinking about the patience Of ordinary things, how clothes Wait respectfully in closets And soap dries quietly in the dish, And towels drink the wet From the skin of the back. And the lovely repetition of stairs. And what is more generous than a window?

Good day to you all, I've been lurking around the site for a few months, and thought it was time to join the conversation. You have to introduce yourself first, as per the rules. Of course, I could go through the routine of I'm x born in y, have z children and work in industry a, and in my spare time I like fishing and salsa dancing. But I thought I'd use this opportunity to reflect a little on the subject: introduce myself to me, if you know what I mean. I struck up a conversation with an Indian a few months ago. He asked me who I was. As I'm currently unemployed, I answered a little nervously: “you mean like work or education?”. Nono, he said, more like my interests, talents, passions, philosophy etc. I didnt know what to answer exactly, but we had a nice chat regardless and exchanged numbers. He called me some weeks later, and offered me a “job”. He felt that there was a great “market”/longing for the higher things in the place I live, and my God, is he right. Ive felt that longing for most of my life, and I can tell that more and more of my peers are getting fed up with the materialist worldview. “Hare Krishna, how are you?” he started. “I feel perfect,” and for the first time, I said those words honestly. I really did. That very same day I had been moved to tears about the mystery and beauty of this universe of ours, and felt a deep sense of unity. He went on to tell me that while he was visiting my town, he had been to a bunch of meetings, and gave me the same advice: expose yourself to the world, explore, go to meetings. Since I am local, he asked me if I'd knew any businesses, people, NGOs, what have you, that I thought deserved to be invested in. Prior to this, I'd been in quite a dark place mentally, and thought that there are a lot of suffering due to the way modern society functions. I mean, that much is obvious when you see how much pain suffering is around. Where I am from, more then half the population has some sort of chronic illness… But if you want to change something, you need a vision, right.. and I didnt have one. So yeah, thats kind of whats on my mind as I write this: who am I, and what do I want for the world and myself. I've always known that I am a “people person.” Man is the joy of man. So that is one thing, I want great and fulfilling relationships. With age I have also gotten to experience the tremendous joy and healing there is in service: both in “receiving” as a well as “giving.” Another thing I think is of tremendous importance, is practising religion in a communal setting. I am here thinking about the original meaning of the term, not dogma or a specific school. I use the term how the latin etymology implies re-ligio (again-connect). So I see it not as different as yoga, in a way, a repeated effort to reconnect with the divine/God. So, trough conversation with two friends/teachers, and some curious synchronisity, the subject of alchemy keeps popping up. The philosopher's stone in particular. So that is one thing Id like to explore with you. And yeah, we will see what happens. Looking forward to it regardless. I read “the alchemist” by Coehlo as a child, and enjoyed it thouroughly. Decided to pick it up again today tho. Read 50 or so pages this far. There are tons of beautifull passages to share, but I decided to leave you with this one: (p. 40 onwards in my edition)

Yes to both of the above. It was bluntly pointed out to me that they are distractions. That helps keep me from chasing after them and meandering off into all manner of tantalizing detours which ultimately yes are barriers and obstacles. engaging in "magic" of any variety (black or white) also falls in the category of distraction, barrier, obstacle. I remember early on hanging out with a few buddies and we were excited about a variety of things like channelling and seeing auras and talking to various beings. One of these buddies constantly saw colors and auras and conversed with all sorts of beings that accompanied her. We would go out to dinner and she would be talking to me and she would also be relaying whatever the non-physical being at the table was telling her. It was wild. Part of me was a bit miffed that I could not "see things" like this. I remember asking about this in a reading. I asked it a few times and always got the same reply, which I am now (a) grateful for, and (b) can see the wisdom in it. The simple blunt reply was "For you it would be far too much of a distraction. It would pull you completely away." so not everything has to be experienced along the way. It is not an indicator that we are "not there yet." It does not mean we are "lacking" or "unskilled" or "behind." And if something is not in my best interest to experience then that is OK. thank you doc benway and stirling for the contributions above. Nowadays for myself the best advice to me is observe and let it go. don't go chasing after it. in Zen parlance, just another cloud passing through the sky.

Dao is the Mother of us all. 可 以 为 天 下 母 Dao can be regarded as the Mother of all under heaven. (DDJ ch. 25) Of course you can’t, , and a sage (being one with Dao, the Mother) cannot either. Indeed.

My most constant spiritual companions is my dog. He always gets up early and sits with me when I meditate. I tend toward jnana, but the dogs are always bhaktis. “The Sweetness of Dogs” by Mary Oliver What do you say, Percy? I am thinking of sitting out on the sand to watch the moon rise. It’s full tonight. So we go and the moon rises, so beautiful it makes me shudder, makes me think about time and space, makes me take measure of myself: one iota pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile, leans against me and gazes up into my face. As though I were just as wonderful as the perfect moon.

@doc benway Thank you. - There is great wisdom in the good doctor's last post, despite its seeming simplicity. These are some of the deepest practices you could find anywhere, shared cleanly and openly. It is a joy to read teaching like this. _/\_

I care for others, I don't care for still others -- like the falling rain.

In Praise of Craziness, of a Certain Kind by Mary Oliver On cold evenings my grandmother, with ownership of half her mind- the other half having flown back to Bohemia- spread newspapers over the porch floor so, she said, the garden ants could crawl beneath, as under a blanket, and keep warm, and what shall I wish for, for myself, but, being so struck by the lightning of years, to be like her with what is left, that loving.

The Blue Bowl by Jane Kenyon Like primitives we buried the cat with his bowl. Bare-handed we scraped sand and gravel back into the hole. They fell with a hiss and thud on his side, on his long red fur, the white feathers between his toes, and his long, not to say aquiline, nose. We stood and brushed each other off. There are sorrows keener than these. Silent the rest of the day, we worked, ate, stared, and slept. It stormed all night; now it clears, and a robin burbles from a dripping bush like the neighbor who means well but always says the wrong thing.

I am loving what is described here. I will now go try this out on the sharp pain in my right foot at top of ankle, which started a few days ago with no rhyme or reason and comes and goes. About 17 years ago i was in a bad car accident and taken by ambulance to the emergency room. It resulted in a number of injuries the most severe was a double whiplash (my vehicle hit twice both from the rear and in front). I knew from being a bodyworker how problematic neck injury was and that receiving treatment right away was key, the sooner the better. So after being released from the hospital two days later, i started calling around to find someone who would work on an active acute whiplash two days post accident including not just posterior neck work but also anterior neck work. Many licensed practitioners will not touch anterior neck at all even in healthy client. So as expected, when i stared trying to find someone to work on the injury, most people would not touch it, i just kept calling. Finally i found someone who was licensed, could provide insurance documentation with chart notes, and most importantly had learned a specific whiplash protocol that included anterior neck work. I started seeing her the next day which was 3 days post injury and was seeing her 4 days a week, then gradually transitioned to 3 days a week, 2 days a week, and then weekly. I was seeing her for close to a year. It was gruelling work to do but by receiving treatment right away and finding a pracitioner who knew what she was doing, i regained 98% range of motion and full pain relief. The court case took close to 3 years to settle (other driver's fault) so all the medical expenses for all that treatment were reimbursed. anyway it was during those many many hours on the treatment table that i started seeing for the first time as she worked on different sections of my neck, i started spontaneously seeing injuries in great detail from other lifetimes of mine. I did not see the time or place, but i did see the weapon and specific entry and exit point. for instance a spear with a wooden shaft and sharp stone point went in my neck and out through by upper ribs on the side. Some of these weapons i did not even know what they were until i looked them up when i got home, for instance "musket ball." i saw vividly where it lodged in the occiput (no exit wound for that one, it was stuck in there). It looked like a round heavy metal dull grey ball with a textured surface about 0.6 inches across. i remember seeing it and thinking what the heck is that (the bush spear i at least recognized as a weapon) and then heard clear as a bell "musket ball." Over the course of our treatment which spanned close to a year, there were about 8 or 9 fatal injuries shown to me, all of them a result of being attacked. in other words, no death from natural causes. I know that trauma lodges in the body so it felt like in being shown these during treatment sessions, that the work she was doing for the neck injury, was releasong trauma carried over from all these other different lifetimes. It was wild. I will try an intentional use of that with this strange pain on my ankle. These days when something happens like that i see it as a way to try whatever healing modality is currently on the radar for me. I agree wholeheartedly that working on the etheric plane is fast and effective. And I happen to find it fun also. Thanks Lairg for the post and details.

Exactly. One has to become in control of one’s own thoughts.

@Giles what’s with all cryptic replies and downvoting, I’m putting you on ignore.

I agree. Great intro, welcome to the forum.

I am new to posting on the forum but have been reading threads for awhile now, and have found useful practical information. My primary interest at this time is qi gong. It is helpful for me to hear more and learn more and be able to ask questions about these : Zhineng, Flying Phoenix, and Wild Goose. I am reading through the 241-page thread on Flying Phoenix and it is wonderful. Thank you everyone for sharing such helpful contributions.

Thank you Stirling, I appreciate it. And there are posts of yours which resonate with me that I see on other threads.

Thank you Giles, I am enjoying your posts when i see them on other threads.

Please if I could get approved soon that would be great idk who to talk to and I'm really worried about my possible symptoms I guess.

Aloha, I'm new here and fumbling around trying to figure out how to post. I hope to learn a great deal from you all.

Hi, New to this forum, just want to hi and thanks for accepting me to this forum.

Welcome @Krenx. 😊

Hi! Glad to join this forum. I practice yang style taichi primarily. Master Huang's method, and also master Zhu's methods through the wang Yong quan lineage. Cheers!

Welcome @Surya. 😊

Welcome!

yes i wholeheartedly agree !

I think the issues are dynamic and so will be the solutions. Anitya, anitya.

Interesting bilingual play of words for me. Lei is, incidentally, the Russian for "pour" in the imperative mood. Leika -- a watering can, and also the diminutive of Leia. Lei-ka -- same as lei but the imperative mood is expressed more informally.

like the falling rain I plink, pour, puddle, and plop Leia´s sweet revenge.

Ziusudra awoke and made his voice heard, speaking to his master, 'Indicate to me the meaning of this dream, let me find its' portent.' With that, Ziusudra went to the temple and placed his ear to the reed wall. Enki spoke through the wall and made his voice heard, speaking to his servant, 'Make sure you attend the message I shall tell you! Listen constantly to me! Dismantle the house of the god, build a boat with its' materials, reject possessions and save living things. The boat you build, roof it like the Abzu so that the sun cannot see inside it! Make upper decks and lower decks. The tackle must be very strong, the bitumen strong, to give strength. I shall make rain fall on you here, take a wealth of birds, a hamper of fish for your journey.' Enki opened the sand-clock and filled it, he told Ziusudra that the sand needed for the Flood was seven night's worth. Ziusudra received the message. Ziusudra gathered up the elders at his door. he made his voice heard and spoke to the elders, 'My God is out of favor with your God. Enki and Enlil have become angry with each other. They have driven me out of my house. Since I always stand in awe of Enki, He told me of this matter. I can no longer stay in Shuruppak, I can no longer set my foot in Enlil's territory again. I must go down to the Abzu and stay with my god. I must build a boat to take me there. That is what he told to me.' The elders heard his words, and called the carpenters and all manner of workman to his aid. Everything he needed was fetched to him, everything was built according to plan. All manner of life was placed aboard the boat, Ziusudra selected the best of all species and placed them on the boat. He invited his people to a feast. He put his family and friends on board the vessel. They were eating, they were drinking, but Ziusudra went in and out, pacing the decks of his boat, he could not stay still on his haunches, his heart was breaking, and he was vomiting bile. The face of the weather changed. Ishkur bellowed from the clouds. When Ziusudra heard this noise, bitumen was brought to him, and he sealed up the door with it. While he was closing the door, Ishkur kept bellowing from the clouds, the winds were raging even as he went up and cut through the ropes, he released the boat. Anzu was tearing at the sky with his talons, the bolt of Abzu broke open and the Flood came out. The Flood went against the people like an army. No one could see anyone else clearly, none of them could be recognized in the catastrophe. The Flood roared like a bull, like a wild ass screaming the winds howled. The darkness was total, there was no sun. The bodies of man and the children of the gods floated on the surface like fat white sheep, their corpses pushed by the Flood into heaps like piles of dead dragonflies in the marsh. The earth was inundated with the power and noise of the Flood. In the heavens, An went berserk, he called the gods his sons before him. As for Nintu the Great Mistress, her lips became encrusted with rime. The great gods, the Anunna, stayed parched and famished. The Goddess watched and wept, midwife of the gods, wise Mami: 'Let daylight return. Let daylight return and shine forth! However could I, in the assembly of the gods, have ordered such destruction with them? Enlil was strong enough to give a wicked order. He ought to have cancelled that order! I heard their cry levelled at me, against myself, against my person, beyond my control my offspring have become like bloated white sheep. As for me, how am I to live in a house of bereavement? My noise has turned to silence. Could I go away, up to the sky and live as in a cloister? What was An's intention as decision-maker? It was his command that the gods his sons obeyed, he who did not deliberate, but sent the Flood, he who gathered the people to catastrophe.' Nintu was wailing, 'Would a true father have given birth to the rolling sea? Would a true father drown his children so that they would clog up the rivers like the bodies of dragonflies? They are washed up like a raft on the bank. I have seen them, and wept over them! Shall I ever finish weeping for them?' She wept, she gave vent to her feelings, Nintu wept and fuelled her passions. The gods wept with her for the country. She was sated with grief, she longed for beer in vain. Where she sat weeping, there the great gods sat too, but, like sheep, could only fill their windpipes with bleating. Thirsty as they were, their lips discharged only the rime of famine. For seven days and seven nights the torrent, storm and Flood came on. After the seventh day had passed, the torrent ceased, silence fell upon the earth. The sun came out and began to shine. When Ziusudra heard the silence, he opened a window in the boat and saw that the sun was shining. He took a raven and released it from the boat. The raven never returned. The waters receded and the boat of Ziusudra came to rest upon the mountaintops. Ziusudra put down the door of his boat and let out all the animals and people within. He put down an offering for the gods, provided food for the gods, he made a burnt offering for the Anunnaki. The gods smelt the fragrance, and gathered like flies over the offering. When they had eaten the offering, Nintu got up and blamed them all, 'Whatever came over An who makes the decisions? Did Enlil dare to come for the smoke offering? Those two who did not deliberate, but rather, sent the Flood, who gathered the people to catastrophe - You agreed to the destruction. Now the bright faces of our children are dark forever!' Enki looked upon the bodies of his children which lay scattered about the land, he summoned his powers and turned them all into great flies. Enki wept in sorrow for what Enlil had forced him to do. Nintu went up to the big flies which Enki had made, and declared before the gods, 'His grief is mine! My destiny goes with his! He must deliver me from evil, and appease me! Let me go out in the morning, let these flies be the lapis lazuli of my necklace by which I may remember them daily, forever.' It was then that Enlil and An arrived. Enlil spotted the boat and was furious with the Igigi. 'We, the great Anunna, all of us, agreed together on an oath! No form of life should have escaped! How did any man survive the catastrophe?' An made his voice heard and spoke to the warrior Enlil, 'Who but Enki would do this? He made sure that that the reed wall disclosed the order.' Enki then spoke up and made his voice heard before all the gods, 'I did it, in defiance of you! I made sure life was preserved on the earth! Exact your punishment from the sinner, and whoever contradicts your order, but I have given vent to my feelings!' Enlil made his voice heard and spoke to the far-sighted Enki, 'Come, summon Nintu the womb-goddess! Confer with each other in the assembly.' Enki made his voice heard and spoke to the womb-goddess Nintu, 'You are the womb-goddess who decrees destinies. You have created the destinies of the people, you have created the destinies of the gods, whatever you say shall be made so. I propose a covenant, a bond of Heaven and Earth, and make Enlil swear to it just as he made me swear to his oath.' With that, Nintu drew a pattern of flour upon the ground and heaped up a mound and placed it in the center, she commanded that Enlil be fetched before her. Enlil was fetched, and made to stand upon the holy mound. Upon this mound did Enlil swear to the covenant known as Duranki, the Bond of Heaven and Earth, never again to harm the people of the land, and never again to allow the Anunnaki to cohabit with the children of man. And so the years passed, and mankind flourished, and the gods were made happy by the people of the land. Thus Concludes the Tablet of the Covenant.

The Nettle Dress. Stumbled upon this a few days ago. I haven't found a way to watch it, but I did find a short video in which Allan Brown demonstrates his nettle fiber making process. "Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand just from locally foraged stinging nettles. This is his medicine. It’s how he survives the passing of his wife, leaving him and their four children bereft, and how he finds a beautiful way to honour her. The Nettle Dress follows Allan's journey through seasons and years, foraging, spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing the cloth, before finally sharing a healing vision of the dress back in the woods where the nettles were picked, worn by one of his daughters. A labour of love in the truest sense, The Nettle Dress is a modern-day fairytale and hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft. It’s one story representing a huge groundswell of people rediscovering the joys of making." It all reminds me quite a bit of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. "Your brothers can be released,“ said she, "if you have only courage and perseverance. True, water is softer than your own delicate hands, and yet it polishes stones into shapes. It feels no pain as your fingers would feel, it has no soul, and cannot suffer such agony and torment as you will have to endure. Do you see the stinging nettle which I hold in my hand? Quantities of the same sort grow round the cave in which you sleep, but none will be of any use to you unless they grow upon the graves in a churchyard. These you must gather even while they burn blisters on your hands. Break them to pieces with your hands and feet, and they will become flax, from which you must spin and weave eleven coats with long sleeves. If these are then thrown over the eleven swans, the spell will be broken. But remember, that from the moment you commence your task until it is finished, even should it occupy years of your life, you must not speak. The first word you utter will pierce through the hearts of your brothers like a deadly dagger. Their lives hang upon your tongue. Remember all I have told you.“

i'm not sure what is meant above by "existence." why does there need to be a "wish to achieve" ? being just is.

yes, which is why "before thought" and "before thinking" are so delightful and so appealing. being the big clear sky and not the passing turbulent stormy clouds. (i am currently reading and adore the teachings of Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn)

so with regards to the topic question asking "why is there so much evil in the world" good and evil are opinion, belief, interpretation. they are not universal. they are not factual. they are not agreed upon and there is no baseline. given that, if someone does not believe in "evil" then it does not exist for them.

I’m confused - shall I continue derailing?

dragon wings thunder raising arms in defiance I care for others

my transformation dried snake skin on desert floor dragon wings thunder

Luke is now Leia I wish that Maddie could see my transformation.

Which way? Which way now? Why not traipse through the garden, so lovely this year?

I have started doing the first 5 standing from Flying Phoenix. After the DVD set which i ordered arrives (6 volumes total), then I will begin adding seated movements from Vol. 2). This long thread has been and is an excellent source of information. I have read sections which came up when I did Google searches on line, but now I am reading the entire 241 pages straight through from the beginning. It is a great resource and has answered many questions which have come up for me. I am at page 34 (out of 241 pages). Previously i did Zhang Zhuang for a few years but i would always end up with sore back and shoulders when i did it in 30-minute stretches, which resolved when i took a break from doing it. Shorter sessions were fine 15 or 20 minutes. And some positions were fine (Wu Ji and hands in front of lower abdomen). Wu ji for 30 minutes was no problem and it has always felt the best to me. What's interesting is that in the one week so far that I have been doing Flying Phoenix standing, and it contains some similar postures I recognize, I have been able to do it for an hour with ease and no soreness afterwards which is quite pleasing to notice. When i did it for 75 minutes (all 5 postures) it was too much but not in terms of soreness in back and shoulders. It just felt like too much in my system. So i scaled it back to 60 minutes for all 5 together in a row. And that feels really good. The one time i felt like it was "too much" was also when i did it first thing in the morning, so I am not doing that. I have moved it to a mid day slot for practice. And keeping Zhineng qi gong for my first thing in the morning practice (about 70-90 minutes). I also do Zhineng in the evening. For the standing postures in Flying Phoenix, one resource says do them one at a time and gradually add more each week or 2, but i also saw on this thread that Sifu Terry Dunn said do all 5 together in a single session and that really appeals to me and feels really good. So I am going to keep doing that. Even though I have not yet received the DVD yet for the first 5 standing, there is an interview with Sifu Terry Dunn where he explains the breathing; and the breathing sequences for the five standing are on line, plus there is a video from someone who trained with Sifu Terry Dunn detailing each of the first five standing; plus the wealth of information provided in this thread. So i feel safe and equipped to do those five standing for now. Plenty to work with there. In the past I also did BaDuanJin which felt more like physical exercise but not much else. I did not develop a feeling of ease with it. Nor did i see improvement in for instance being able to drop lower in the horse stance. And when i read on Dao Bums (i had done a search on line for "pain after doing qi gong") a brilliant post which for me was a light bulb moment of insight, the post said simply "maybe a different type of qi gong would be better for you, maybe try a different qi gong like _____" and then people chimed in with different types of qi gong. It felt so good to be able to put down what had become honestly a chore that felt like it wasn't getting me anywhere. So I am now quite happily practicing Zhineng and learning Flying Phoenix. Qigong is dear to me (literally got me out of a bedridden state in 2019 when nothing was working and there was much despair) and will always be part of my daily life. I am happy to wake up once again wanting to do the practice, and also seeing benefits and improvement.

"Meditative insight views" could mean different things for me but hopefully I'll address your question. There are visions like webs of light, Northern lights, ripples, distortions of time and space, demons, yidams, dakinis, immortals, OBE's, seeing across distances of time and space, so many different experiences! These things do not have meaning or significance in and of themselves. They are considered, in dzogchen terms, the spontaneous display of the base, nothing aberrant about it, simply the natural arising of the 10,000 things in the openness of awareness. It is our minds that add the meaning and significance, those minds being a product of conditioning and circumstances. So our eyes play a role, our brain, atmospheric conditions, our emotions and memories, expectations, you name it; there are countless interconnected variables that give rise to our life and meditative experiences. Such experiences can elicit aversion, attachment, confusion and other reactions and come easily become obstacles when we engage with them. It is said in Bön dzogchen teachings that, and I paraphrase, 'When the sounds, lights, and rays encounter the mind of the practitioner, they are impure because they reflect the mind which has the nature of samsara. When they encounter the mind's nature (ie. the practitioner resting in the nature of mind, the non-dual state), they liberate spontaneously and remain pure, reflecting the nature of liberation.' Pure and impure in this context simply refer to whether we grasp or allow the experience of visions to spontaneously liberate, they are not judgmental in a moral sense. Then there are what I would call insights - meditative experiences that leave a lasting change in consciousness or that open us to another level of understanding or experience in our practice, in our view. These experiences can also take many different forms because there are many ways in which we are disconnected or out of touch with our deeper essence. Similarly, they only have the meaning and significance we impute on them, however they can be reliable indicators of our progress on the path so they are useful to student and teacher alike. Nevertheless, we must treat them the same as any meditative experience, in dzogchen practice that means to leave it as it is, don't engage or analyze, simply abide. These insightful meditative experiences can become even more formidable obstacles as we can be very attached to experiences that indicate spiritual growth.

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

@gatito

“In Silence, God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience.” Thomas Merton

J.R.R. Tolkien CAT The fat cat on the mat may seem to dream of nice mice that suffice for him, or cream; but he free, maybe, walks in thought unbowed, proud, where loud roared and fought his kin, lean and slim, or deep in den in the East feasted on beasts and tender men. The giant lion with iron claw in paw, and huge ruthless tooth in gory jaw; the pard dark-starred, fleet upon feet, that oft soft from aloft leaps upon his meat where woods loom in gloom — far now they be, fierce and free, and tamed is he; but fat cat on the mat kept as a pet he does not forget.

@gatito @Daemon 😊

Finished this a few minutes ago, out of curiosity. He describes what probably (in Buddhist terms) describes a couple of "Arising and Passing Away" moments (though with some questionable time travel stories), that do not represent real insight and then speaking about his last episode he says he realized: This isn't wrong, but is a fairly tepid and indistinct description considering the effort he put into the other experiences, but let's allow for translation and cultural differences. In his favor, he DOES seem relaxed, gently good-humored, and KIND, one of the most major characteristics of those who have lived in the world with insight for a long time. What is actually important, that almost any "awakened being" would know to point to is: --How awake are you RIGHT NOW?-- Can you see or hear "emptiness" in this moment.. even if you have to turn your attention to it? What does that mean to you? Can you see that "self" is a delusion, even if you occasionally lose sight of this for a few minutes? How about the constructs of time and space? This insight is not an experience, it is a permanent shift in perception. It would have been nice to hear him share with the world the nature of his moment-to-moment life.

Do you think that sounds a bit like nirodha samapatti? Although three weeks sounds perhaps a bit far out.

I expect that is true, but I have already completed all of my teacher training. Now there is only Rigpa doing the training. _/\_