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The character for Xìng 性 Life is made up of the radical for xīn 心 heart, and shēng 生 birth (depicted by a plant sprouting from the earth.) For Mìng 命 Destiny the two kǒu 口 mouths are proclaiming lìng 令 decrees (depiction of placing a seal onto a document.) Zhongwen.com - Chinese Characters Etymologies

Lady Xing looks like a shamaness holding a distaff and thread, and Master Ming looks like a water buffalo. What do these actually depict?

Not surprising ( the woman part ) , that find is dated a couple thousand years before Indo Europeans swarmed through Europe . What it might have been like before this happened : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Europe_(archaeology) Which extended into Spain ( see sites ; Atapuerca , Orce and ' Bell Beaker ' culture ) .

你真是太懂我了！Nǐ zhēnshi tài dǒng wǒle! შენ ჩემს აზრებს კითხულობ! Shen chems azrebs k’itkhulob! Ты прочёл мои мысли! Ty prochyol moyi mysli! You have read my thoughts! /ju hæv rɛd maɪ θɔts/ The second line of the above is in Georgian. I don't know the language but I do know the alphabet. Me and my girlfriends at school learned it from a Georgian classmate circa the 6th grade in order to exchange coded messages during lessons by transliterating them into that alphabet. The motives were strictly pragmatic -- so that classmates who passed little pieces of paper with messages along, or the teachers should they intercept them, wouldn't be able to read them. Now I wonder... what purpose does it serve to use a writing system here guaranteed to not be understood by nearly everyone on the forum. Just curious.

Exactly! White & Black Wizards from Final Fantasy Floating Flute Gnu from GNU.org

Yes, definitely, one cannot read Classical without having an interpretation in mind.

I'm going to bounce off you ; I wish I could ! I been in pain for three months with this shoulder injury ... only just now recovering ... constant pain is grind ... I need a rest from it . But I am now allergic to the forms of morphine described ... cant take it . I probably would have had some if I could . Occasional I lash out and drop a couple of panadol osteo . I dont 'especially like' mine ... just because they are family ; if I like you or not it is not based on blood connections . I think I passed that point a few weeks back . I like the stillness . I dont have bills ( just the phone ) ... I do have expenses ( eg . no power bill but occasionally I have to spend money on solar system ) YOu are right , bills will disappear ... well, transform actually , often into summonses .

@liminal_luke Read it just in time then. Made sense to me. You’re a good egg.

... (Edited because I decided against radical honesty. I do, however, admire your courage Haribol.)

陰陽相生 yīnyáng xiāngshēng Yin and yang mutually reproducing Yin and yang coexist

I think there is an initiating seer, like what stirling says, but then there is also a community of practitioners who may develop the spiritual practice in various ways. There was a book I came across some years ago called Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism by Dale Wright who argued that Huangbo, for instance, was not the result of a single person but a reflection of the experiences of an ongoing community of practitioners. I will add, however, that receiving a lineage initiation does seem to also confer a sort of power--- whether that is receiving the Holy Spirit via laying on of hands, getting a burst of qi from a Daoist master, or being initiated into a lineage.

I never heard of that term. I don't think it is a term used in early buddhism. 🙏.

CD's time table for the history of the TTC

In terms of buddhism terminology and definitions, when "dhamma" is mentioned, it often referees to the Buddha's teachings on the 4 noble truths, the 8 fold path. And the other common use of the that term, is the nature of existence. For example the nature rebirth, kamma, good results from good deeds, bad results from bad deeds, what kind of views and actions inclines a bring towards lower realms, or heavenly realms, impermanance in samsara etc.

This usually means no

🥰

Haha! I have actually never heard anyone check the old woman's behavior. I guess I am used to looking at "the point" of the story when reading zen tales. One of the checking questions in the kong an (koan) addresses the what the old woman attained when she heard about the monks response. Anyway, I appreciate the kind words, and the conversation. _/|\_

Jesus H. Christ.

Hi Tommy, No need to apologize for disagreeing! That's a nice feature of Buddhism. It is (except for Pure Land) a "self-power" religion. It's up to you to take on board what is useful, and reject what isn't. A teacher helps to keep things going in the right direction. My take is all of Buddhism is an expedient means to point us to a shift that can only be experienced. Originally, there is no dukkha, no end of dukkha. But, it is pretty easy to track down quotes from the Buddha where he says words to the effect of "I teach dukkha, and the end of dukkha." Of course, those quotes weren't actually written down in the Pali Suttas until over 400 years after his death, so who knows? And, there is some debate about the exact way to translate it. But, the gist is there. Regarding opinions, be careful. They are one of the main ways the idea of a self is reified. The story simply cautions us not to become dead, unfeeling robots, like the monk did. This a major misunderstanding, especially from the Mahayana perspective. It's not a matter of simple opinion. Also, I would just like to point out that for me, online conversations are just "shooting the bull" kind of conversations. I suspect I come across as some kind of Buddhist know-it-all. There is no tone of voice, body language, etc., to our conversations here. Just words on a screen, and we as readers are left to fill in the tone, etc. It's a very poor substitute for in-person conversations. _/|\_ Keith

Yeah... he'll want to keep it in the tradition, I would imagine. No surprise there. This is often very much the case with all of the original Tibetan teachers that escaped China, or were trained by them. I can't tell from your post, and you may know this, but the eventual goal of Dream Practice is not lucid dream, but rather being awakened in all moments including sleep. This is something that, in my experience, sometimes naturally happens on (or just after) retreats. Lucid dreaming would be more of a siddhi than a desirable path milestone. Do you mind if I ask: Do you know experientially what is meant by Rigpa, or the "nature of mind"? This isn't intended as a "gotcha", it might not be something that arises in the traditions you have pursued.

This may not be a symptom of progress. When the mind is truly quiet and open, not grasping, there are qualities that arise spontaneously - warmth, joy, compassion, and creativity, and there is some sense that anything satisfies. The absence of these energetic manifestations of the base is an indication that something is blocking our progress. Often it is an aberrant view such as nihilism or an unbalanced practice, prioritizing the mental over the physical and emotional, for example. Another common cause of this sort of deviation is bypassing, neglecting to bring our real life challenges onto the cushion, or neglecting to bring our practice into life's activities, in a way that supports genuine transformation. Something to consider if you feel like there is something lacking in your life or your practice.

Another factor is that those "serious things" are often quite secretive, sometimes for good reason, perhaps sometimes not. I know that I feel uncomfortable sharing things my teacher asked us to keep to ourselves, be that personal experiences and insights from practice, specific information, or practical instruction. In part this is because certain information can be useless, misinterpreted, or even harmful when pursued before the student is prepared. Not saying a focused and well--moderated neidan forum would necessarily be a bad idea but I do think there will be challenges.

I think people who know serious things, if I can put it that way, are nervous about posting their ideas and being greeted with ridicule or low IQ takes. It’s a frustrating and depressing experience. As is immediate derailment into the world of slop.

Stumbled across this just now out of curiosity for this discussion. https://theindianheritage.blogspot.com/2014/01/lord-krishna-and-shiva-worship-in.html?m=1

I am not sure it's all that realistic, I was just reacting to the that hijacked this topic. Maybe it's too late in the TDB day for quality control. It was being controlled for something else for too long, through no fault of the current mod team I should add, not their fault at all.

I don´t see any reason why the special rule you suggest couldn´t be implemented; the forum could be anything it´s members want it to be. The hitch is that once you kick the football players off the tennis team, will there be enough tennis players left to have a game? It might be interesting to query the members here and find out how many have a neidan teacher and lineage and would be willing to say. In the event that people don´t want to post their teacher / lineage publically they could share this info with ForestofClarity privately as a condition of entrance.

Since this was posted in the Buddhist sub, here is a Zen story for this kind of condition, which ZM Seung Sahn turned into a kong an (koan): The Buddha only taught two things: Dukkha and the end of Dukkha. Dukkha is the dissatisfaction of not getting enough of the things we want, and too much of the things we don't. Getting one's emotions under control is good, but another step is needed. As Oldbob mentioned, desire can be a useful energy. In Zen terms, the desire to wake up our to our true selves keeps us on the path. And then, when we see that, we help others to do the same. To me, that is the ultimate teaching of the Buddha's enlightenment. He didn't just sit there with the knowledge of his true self. He shared it with the world. _/|\_ Keith

The important point in dreaming is not the content but 'who is dreaming?' Ming has no direct equivalent. It is like going to a Gnostic Christian 'why you refuse to teach me Ming, are you high or something?' 😁

Religions are created by gnostics. A gnostic is someone who gains insight into the nature of reality. The gnostic can't shut up about it (typical gnostic thing) and so alienates, scares the shit out of, and excites a variety of the people he encounters with tales of his path. If the gnostic is persuasive enough, some of those who listen get the idea that they could do the same thing if they just do precisely as the gnostic has done. They write down his story as they remember it, but often misquoting or adding bits that they think are true or helpful, couching it in language that THEY understand but that may slightly obscure the teachings. Eventually the teacher leaves, or dies, and the stories from his path get distorted over time. Larger groups form into a religion where the 'teachings" are shared, practiced, etc. Eventually some of the people doing these practices "awaken" themselves, perhaps accidentally stumbling on to some of the fairly simple pithy principles at the center of the now fairly elaborate religion. As gnostics, they understand that the practices themselves were not the mechanism for illumination, or concoct their own practices, being able to see where the religion has become slightly or greatly corrupted, and they often leave to teach what they know based on their own path. The way to enlightenment isn't actually hidden, it is man that corrupts what is actually a fairly simple set of principles.

Moderator Note: In the interest of intelligibility and inclusivity we would like members to provide translations or at minimum transliterations of posts that include words or text in Chinese characters. This will give posts a wider reach and promote more wide ranging discussion. Thanks. A.

I think ChiDragon has a future in US politics...

I will conclude the answer to my question is no, you have not studied neidan with a teacher. Thank you for sharing your personal conclusions on neidan, all perspectives have value to me.

Don’t bother answering the question will you?

I propose you to read daoist texts before starting new thread on Neidan First read, investigate then teach other people

Ahem. Mark Foote bridges ancient wisdom and modern science in this remarkable exploration of seated meditation. Drawing on Gautama Buddha's original teachings, Zen masters from Dogen to Shunryu Suzuki, and contemporary research in biomechanics and neuroscience, Foote reveals how natural, automatic movement in the body emerges when we surrender volition and allow consciousness to find its own place. For practitioners seeking to understand the relationship between body and mind in meditation, A Natural Mindfulness is an invaluable guide.