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It isn't mysterious: Put your attention on an object (pick an object, ANY object - your breath (or someone elses!), a crack in the floor, the ringing in your ears). The mind goes quiet, and attention only rests on the single object. You now have access concentration. The mind is still and concentrated. Congratulations! Most students can do this within a few weeks of practice or sooner, with guidance.

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Bums looking to improve their squatting ability might find this article helpful: Bodyweight Squat Technique & Mobility | GMB Fitness

With some patient stretching and strengthening, it can be very safe and effective. Some will be injured or aggravate existing issues. Proceed with care. I started squatting regularly about the age of 50. So far, so good. Great for the hips and low back! Careful with the knees.

Would it be dangerous for old and the weak to squat down and rise up? with weak muscles, knee problems and rapid change in blood pressure. For squat countries like Korea and China, people have been doing that for their whole life. But it is not the case for other countries.

There's a few different versions around that are a bit different, I wouldn't take hakuin's advice on neidan more than i'd take wang chongyang's advice on buddhism however haha The original has more traditional instruction corresponding to northern alchemy but is of course not translated He specifically discusses the 金液還丹 or "Golden Liquid Returning Elixir" https://wikisource.org/wiki/夜船閑話 I read through your Neidan 101 five ranks of Xian thread, really solid info! I don't agree with some of your conclusions but I think your viewpoint and research are really cool

Hi, We don't really do that. I see you have deleted all the posts that I can see easily (which go back to 2016). Otherwise we don't delete old content. Also with your account - just log out and don't enegage if you don't want to. A.

Video showing that many Russians are not so different than people anywhere and who want to live decent lives along with many also wanting to visit or live in the modest countryside homes and enjoy more natural ways...(I'd say away from the harsh realities and or very tough conditions that many of their civilian's live under in big cities that we in the west often hear reported about) we have also met humanity and he/she is us...

If I have this right then one pointed concentration is not samadhi and samadhi is necessary for realizing the true nature of oneself?? Yeah, all too complicated for me. Can't I just sit and do my regular practice without expectations. And if I have difficulties to ask questions about what I can do to find resolutions? Lately, I find myself eating more and more. Must have put on a few pounds. I notice my breathing has changed because of this. Will have to think about something else other than food?? Sorry, drifting off again.

Ah…so not samadhi then.

Over 30 years, my friend. 😀

... and they have never got the taste right since .....

that could be one way to feel the workings of instant karma

Thanks Mark! I remember reading a talk from Ajahn Buddhadasa, and thinking, this guy sounds like a Zen Master. Turns out he got in some trouble for teaching moment to moment DO, instead of lifetime to lifetime (See his book: Under the Bodhi Tree). Obviously, the Pali Canon is a tremendous wealth of teaching, and I have benefitted greatly from it. My quibble is not seeing it for what it is...how Buddhism developed when it left India and went to Southeast Asia. Here in the West, it gets interpreted as the original and "true" form of Buddhism. It isn't, as direct and useful as it is. Thanks for the "one pointedness" words. I always thought that was samadhi, which is something that happens while practicing, but not the goal. When I have experienced it, it felt like noticing everything in my field of experience, nothing left out. Like a spreading out of attention where everything is noticed. Nice, but not the point. I teach newcomers to allow our body's energy, our breathing, and our attention to settle down to the center (dan tian). That way there is no pushing or forcing activity, just a settling. I ran into a Tai Chi teaching that says: relaxed upper body, dynamic center, stable base. Great instructions for sitting! _/|\_

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Yes that's a whole can of worms so to speak haha The energetic bodies in Vajrayana are (generally) not the same as the yang immortal body of neidan, the rainbow body would be the closest comparison as its cultivated via reverting the consciousness back to origin but that's a very specific thing that uses an entirely different cultivation method and usually means that the physical form disappears and that life on earth has concluded I know that several neidan lineages deal with other energetic bodies prior to the ultimate yang immortal body but I won't talk too much about that as I haven't received direct transmission on the topic In Vajrayana I think depending on the lineage you are often instructed to assume the form of the deity 24/7 and so the merging of consciousness happens on varying levels throughout your life as perceptions are purified, there are stories of people able to physically become the deity after sustained practice of this Ultimately we only have one human experience of course and so someone that has achieved each energetic body according to the tradition could tell whether they're the same or not, I would personally say that they're different as the cultivation methods and reported effects are different To put on my universalism cap for a moment, religious daoism which is incorporated in varying degrees in neidan lineages deals strongly with deity yoga similarly to vajrayana, in religious daoism deity yoga is said to be a way to access ling qi or "brahma qi" as one aims to assume the authority and energy of heaven I'd say the siddhis from yidam practice are likely similar to the religious daoism line of development even if done for different purposes South east asian esoteric buddhism is super interesting, i've found some really cool stuff from Vietnam that incorporates neidan and tantric buddhism from the shingon line into one lineage Almost impossible to find good info from there without taking a trip and knowing the right people though haha Nan huai-chin has some interesting writings about the similarities between neidan and vajrayana as he says that he's studied both (mostly untranslated in chinese however) His view from what i've seen is also that they are two separate processes that can ultimately compliment each other

Yes you are right about the immortal body in neidan but not about buddhism. In vajrayana there is the accomplishment of the pure illusiory body (there is also a practice called illusiory body but this is something different).... seldom talked about.... here the very subtle mind merges with the yidam (which is called a deity but is not a deity but an enlightened buddha) and they get the body of that deity. There are also some non public alchemical buddhist lineages in Burma and Myanmar that create light bodies. Freeform was in one of those lineages (highly esteemed ex member here). 😊