Leaderboard

Meh...that's like the endless DDJ translation debates. It doesn't change anything. I am a practitioner, not a scholar. But, thanks for the side-note.

Your method for dream work is very similar to the method in my tradition for working with any experience, including dreams. Just as you recreate and embody the dream in your mind and feelings, we do the same with any experience or person that generates reactivity. These can be very recent experiences, alive in us at this very moment. They can be remote memories, dreams, people who generate reactivity, future worries, any life experience. We turn to the experience if it is active in the moment, or recreate whatever it is we want to work with as vividly as possible in body, speech, and mind. We sit with that for as long as it is fresh and alive. While we don't engage with it intellectually, we are often taken to earlier times and other experiences that may have some connection, often a connection we were not aware of. The one thing that may be a bit different is that we are working with the sense of a "me" who is being affected by the experience rather than hosting the experience itself. It's a very subtle but important difference in our paradigm. And we rest in the stillness, silence, and spaciousness. This is referred to as hosting pain identities. . It's a wonderful and powerful practice and one way we avoid the bypassing that can so easily happen to practitioners.

What Ba Gua Zhang has deleted from my system in recent times: 1. Arguing with others ---> Who really cares, everyone has their own opinion. 2. Resentment. No time for that. If someone disrespects you, that's their problem. 3. Lust. I don't touch females, I don't want to sleep with them. Deleted but the Yin runs deep and in my dreams sometimes females approach me with interest which means it is still an issue that needs to be cleared completely. 4. Anger. Gone for good. It is a tough one to beat but not as difficult as no. 3 To be removed: #Material possession The magic of walking the circle which slowly deletes everything until nothing is left. The sky is the limit of what circle walking really is and does to the practitioner.

I practice to become one with God.

If you read the Heart Sutra from the perspective of realization it is as clean and clear as a mountain stream. I don't know of any non-dual expression that is more concise and to the point. Another in the same league (IMO) is the Tsin Tsin Ming by Tseng T'san, not written by the Buddha but rather a Ch'an patriarch much much later. Dharma is being penned by living beings every day, all over the world. It isn't important if the Buddha said it, or if the guy that runs the hardware store down the street said it. There have been countless enlightened beings since the Buddha, all Buddhas themselves. They walk the streets of your town, tip their hats, and frequent the aformentioned hardware store to see their dharma brother. Even their simple kindness and patience is dharma.

Dharma is skillful means. Ultimately, there is no Dharma. See the Heart Sutra Not a teacher though, so ymmv... edit: Btw, I love the agnostic shelf...I have many ideas up on that thing.

The Buddha purposely had the "unanswerable questions". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_unanswerable_questions These included cosmologies of all kinds. The reason for this is that, where there is realization, it is obvious that these questions are being posed from a logic and world view that has been seen to be a mirage - a delusion. Even Buddhism itself is eventually seen to be a constructed idea of reality, not non-dual reality itself.

This place is pretty cool. There is another forum I hop into once in a while. They have different streams of Buddhism, and basically, people aren't allowed to troll other groups in their own forum. For instance, the post above wouldn't be allowed, because this is the Buddhism forum. It's basically trolling. But, I don't think we should be so soft as to not brook a little disagreement. I have no response to the post, as it's gibberish from a Buddhist perspective. But, it's nice that this hasn't turned into a flame war. _/|\_ Keith

I do not believe myself to be religious by any measure. Grew up with religious instructions. Learnt about Jesus and somewhat of the Bible. But, have distanced myself from actual church. Got exposed to Buddhism or rather Zen Buddhism. Liked it cause it said to actually try it for yourself. So, practised sitting meditation on and off from young teen to retirement. I do not believe it has made much difference in my understanding of the world around me. But, learning about Buddhism has shaped my way of looking at life. So, guess that I practise so I can become a better person. And yes, there are days that I wish that I was not trying to become a better person. Stuff happens.

If I have an emotional reaction to someone or something and it’s a painful emotion or just something I’d prefer not to feel, I will catch myself tightening against it and remind myself to allow myself to fully feel it, so I agree there’s more than just dreams to do this with. The thing about dreams is I see them as a programme that a governing part of myself, some very broad knowledge part of myself, an overarching consciousness, is running over time, designed to undo reactive history at the root, both the historical emotions and stories that have conditioned us. I did identify with the feelings, I did see them as me, but there came a time when I started to shift my primary identification from being my thoughts and emotions to different aspects of myself. From all the information I’ve gathered the thought/emotion level is the paired side channels, the emotional channel going up and the mental channel coming down, creating a circuit. I see it as my consciousness travelling up the emotional channel (which took thirty years or so) and down the mental channel (which took a couple of months), removing all blocks as I went. Completing one circuit of the side channels allowed the consciousness’s of the central channel to activate, and my identification as being my emotional/mental level is diminishing. But in my paradigm though emotions and thoughts dont not drive me like they did, they remain as valid informants giving my whole organism important information. Energy still flows through them, they’re part of my subtle body, but they’re not the governor.

Yes, many modern people do not realize that is Qigong(氣功).

It's hard to parse, but "adharma" is ALSO dharma.

When your meditation results in periods of stillness you will start to notice that thoughts arise spontaneously of their own accord... without your effort. With some practice you will learn to just watch thoughts arise and more and more occasionally pass, but without you having a 2nd thought that builds them into your mental dialog. At that time you have begun to sometimes identify as bare awareness in your sitting, rather than as the thoughts that you thought were "you". When you can rest in this perspective (that which watches phenomena and thoughts arise and pass) you can be 100% present for periods of time. Most students, with some guidance and genuine practice can come to this in its basic form in 2 weeks to a month of daily sitting. Some just stumble upon it. Having it pointed out, as I have, helps. Learning to see thoughts as something you witness, rather than "I" is the first step. If you are witnessing the thought, it obviously isn't "you", it is just another "object", like an orange on your table, or a mote of dust shifting lazily in the sun. Learning this process isn't something "you" do, it is what happens when you take the time to practice and learn to STOP doing. "You" will NEVER "do" it. Yes, thinking about it too much is a problem. It sounds like you are an experienced meditator, you have probably crossed this ground before many times, but without the perspective of teaching. It happens all the time in meditation, but we don't know to look for it. See how far you can get with the instruction above, and feel free to tag me in this thread, or message me if you need more guidance.

To find some balance and sanity in this crazy world we live in.

I'd say as long as there is time and space and vast multitudes of various emanations repeating in endless cycles, then there is also dharma and adharma going on. I also like that saying along the lines of : "samsara properly understood is nirvana"

I think you misunderstand. I am saying that the Gnowledge (dharma of all kinds) points to something that is essentially ineffable. Both emphasize that Brahman is the source of all awareness, not an object to be known. This is true in ALL non-dual traditions, and ineffability is even mentioned in Judaism and Christianity. This isn't a bug, it is a feature. It is a pointer for those who genuinely seek to understand to look beyond concepts. True realization, even of the nature of "God", isn't conceptual knowledge. It isn't something you can just tell someone else, or everyone would be sharing it.

No, there was a poll and (as far as I understood) it’s going to be this one.

Nah idk, haven’t really looked into any region in any depth. I just vibe with the Christ, and not sure how useful the term abrahamic religions are either. And there are no limits of mystics in either one of the countless traditions and offspring’s of… the book, or what to call it. Like Meister Eckhart here: "God is infinite in his simplicity and simple in his infinity. Therefore he is everywhere and is everywhere complete. He is everywhere on account of his infinity, and is everywhere complete on account of his simplicity. Only God flows into all things, their very essences. Nothing else flows into something else. God is in the innermost part of each and every thing, only in its innermost part." So no, not agreed. You’ll find plenty of «dualist» thinking wherever you go. And yeah, the common tread was «touching the feet» ahaha. take care meine Freunde.

Such is the nature of samsara. 🙏

Judging by the humility, honesty and philosophy of that comment, I’m tempted to say it has been a great success

I am reading this text (that I have created a thread about and will link to at the bottom) that is suprisingly relevant to this one. "And the fifth meaning of budh is to fathom. A depth is there in you, a bottomless depth, which has to be fathomed. Or, the fifth meaning can be to penetrate, to drop all that obstructs and penetrate to the very core of your being, the heart. That's why this sutra is called the Heart Sutra - Prajnaparamita Hridayam Sutra - to penetrate. People try to penetrate many things in life. Your urge, your great desire for sex is nothing but a kind of penetration. But that is a penetration into the other. The same penetration has to happen into your own being: you have to penetrate yourself. If you penetrate somebody else it can give you a momentary glimpse, but if you penetrate yourself you can attain to the universal cosmic orgasm that remains and remains and remains. A man meets an outer woman, and a woman meets an outer man: this is a very superficial meeting - yet meaningful, yet it brings moments of joy. When the inner woman meets the inner man... And you are carrying both inside you: a part of you is feminine, a part of you is masculine. Whether you are man or woman does not matter; everybody is bisexual. The fifth meaning of the root budh means penetration. When your inner man penetrates your inner woman there is a meeting; you become whole, you become one. And then all desires for the outer disappear. In that desirelessness is freedom, is nirvana." An intelligent person does not escape from any fact. If it is fear he will go into it - because the way out is through. If he feels fear and trembling arising in him, he will leave everything aside: first this fear has to be gone through. He will go into it, he will try to understand. He will not try how not to be afraid; he will not ask that question. He will simply ask one question: "What is this fear? It is there, it is part of me, it is my reality. I have to go into it, I have to understand it. If I don't understand it then a part of me will always remain unknown to me. And how am I going to know who I am if I go on avoiding parts? I will not understand fear, I will not understand death, I will not understand anger, I will not understand my hatred, I will not understand my jealousy, I will not understand this and that..." Then how are you going to know yourself? All these things are you! This is your being. You have to go into everything that is there, every nook and corner. You have to explore fear. Even if you are trembling it is nothing to be worried about: tremble, but go in. It is far better to tremble than to escape, because once you escape, that part will remain unknown to you, and you will become more and more afraid to look at it because that fear will go on accumulating. It will become bigger and bigger if you don't go into it right now, this moment. Tomorrow it will have lived twenty-four hours more. Beware! - it will have got more roots in you, it will have bigger foliage, it will become stronger; and then it will be more difficult to tackle. It is better to go right now, it is already late. And if you go into it and you see it... And seeing means without prejudice. Seeing means that you don't condemn fear as bad from the very beginning. Who knows? - it is not bad. Who knows that it is? The explorer has to remain open to all the possibilities; he cannot afford a closed mind. A closed mind and exploration don't go together. He will go into it. If it brings suffering and pain, he will suffer the pain but he will go into it. Trembling, hesitant, but he will go into it: "It is my territory, I have to know what it is. Maybe it is carrying some treasure for me? Maybe the fear is only there to protect the treasure." That's my experience, that's my understanding: if you go deep into your fear you will find love. That's why it happens that when you are in love, fear disappears. And when you are afraid you cannot be in love. What does this mean? A simple arithmetic - fear and love don't exist together. That means it must be the same energy that becomes fear; then there is nothing left to become love. It becomes love; then there is nothing left to become fear. Go into fear, Prageet, Vidya, and all others who are feeling afraid. Go into it, and you will find a great treasure. Hidden behind fear is love, and hidden behind anger is compassion, and hidden behind sex is samadhi.

But since I am qouting the bible in a thread about worry... what could possibly be more fitting than this section: Do Not Worry 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Where and when does evolution take place? Only in times and spaces, yes? Earlier we talked about human identity as passing and apparent, thus would you agree same is taking place or evolving in times and spaces... anyway I'm not saying a passing and apparent identity can be equated to the Self but that in unwinding a passing and apparent identity (which is noble work and purposeful to find freedom) then what is left or what was always there, thus free of being bound in times and spaces or limited to a particular form, whether it be as a human or a god? I'd say that That is ultimately realized as Truest identity.

My mother was born with the ability to see the equivalent of a photographic image pop up randomly in her mind that contained information. After some years of dream work with me that suddenly turned into videos of information, that she could turn on, on demand. I found it to be a fascinating insight into the subtle body, she could also see inside the physical body. What she saw was remarkably similar to Indian information regarding the subtle body, as well as certain aspects of neidan, which is actually what brought me to this site, wanting to compare what she saw with what neidan stated. She herself was brought up Christian and had no idea what the things she saw meant, she simply stated what she saw. I understand that you might not believe any of this, but I was certainly convinced.

Blavatsky was into hollow earth (indirectly by inference ) NOT flat earth .

That would be cool if so.

The Buddha did not deny energy, the laws of energy, and other kinds of phenomena in the world. He has hinted about energy, sentient beings on other planets, etc. He is aware of a lot more then people think, but decided to put his effort into a framework specific to the goal of nibbana. Him not talking about yin yang, is not the same as denying it.

Oh... how interesting! Yeah... driving like that is quite an unprecedented and foreign experience the first time out!

Some call the DDJ, ‘Tao the King’. In my DDJ I’m ‘Cobie the Queen’.

I’m Jo King

This too is “religious talk”, just another tradition.

This is a depiction of the Hetu (河圖, “River Map”) and the mythic Longma (龍馬, Dragon-Horse). According to tradition, a dragon-horse emerged from the Yellow River carrying the Hetu diagram on its back — a cosmological pattern representing early foundational principles of taoism.

Part of my method for dream work is to “feel the feeling” after the dream has been interpreted to the best of one’s ability, which I did by recreating the dream in my mind and allowing myself as much as possible to re-enter the feeling created by the dream image. Doing this for decades, slowly getting better at it, allows the full force of a feeling to be experienced over time, and really this is what a fully open emotional channel is. Rumi’s poem captures the work perfectly - The Guest House Rumi Translated by Coleman Barks This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

My comment was about your comment about dreams not about absolute truth. Dreams are a good tool for self-development because they mirror a deeper truth than the bs we tell ourselves. Regarding absolute truth I just don't believe in that anymore or concern about it. It is my experience that what we believe to be true rooted in deep material or spiritual experience can vanish in a moment. Truth doesn't settle anywhere, ever.

Many are, many aren't. If you start a dream journal you will realize that. You can deny your true feelings to yourself and your unconscious will show you otherwise, just like you can deny your attraction or aversion towards someone and your body will show you otherwise.

A good question, what is a bulwark against delusion. Not a person, but I have always used dreams as the bulwark. Rising from the subconscious, untouched by subjective beliefs, dreams are as close as I’ve come to objective reality.

"It" is not of the "meaining making machine" that splits hairs. For the "Soul of the soul" knows the Itself without doubt, and to put away doubt is freedom. Freedom from endless like mental speculations, granted beliefs can potentially be like unproven assuptions, (and or by-passing) although they can also be useful pointers. I'd add that anti -beliefs can also put one on a merry go around. Anyway agnostic like ways have a place until replaced by first hand expeierence.

umm, that is not just my added on philosophy or just my particular belief. The Upanishads which I brought up briefly are directly related to the Vedas which have been handed down for thousands of years with many consensual agreements among a great number of Self-realized and experienced Masters, Rishis, Yogi's, etc. None of which can or would force their realization upon another, nor can such be proven by normal means like with the intellect. "It" can be known within when uncovered, the several yoga's help, and in a great many other ways besides those related to Hinduism. Personally I'd say Revealing Grace (a major aspect of Lord Siva) is also key. Lord Siva depicted as Lord Nataraja: "Anugraha, grace and emancipation, is indicated by the combination of the lower left hand, which points toward his upraised foot, showing the way to moksha in surrendering to the lord. The uplifted left leg is revealing grace, which releases the mature soul from bondage. Hindus touching the feet of their elders in respect is an echo of God’s feet being considered holy."

My Chinese teacher (from Beijing) says all this stuff is to be taken with a pinch of salt, the same way the West takes the Western zodiac. Like Harry Potter’s Draco Malloy is the mascot for this ‘year of the fire horse’ in China. It’s all make believe for fun.

He missed the mark big time. He actually had no idea about how reality really works. The YY actually the two fundamental FORCES that stem from SPIRT and create the ENTIRE REALITY. But there is more to that: 1. Water force...sinks and rises 2. Wood force...expands 3. Fire force...peaks 4. Earth Force...harmonises, balances 5. Metal force...descends They are the FIVE DIMENSIONS of YY hence SPIRIT. Keep regulating these two systems YY & 5F and you'll have an understanding of EVERYTHING including the vague nirvana which imo is irrelevant and BEYOND. As you can see they are more than just energies, they are the building blocks of reality which in turn affect your entire consciousness as a human. To me this is the real deal, mess up with them and not only you'll live a miserable life but also will have a profound effect in your future life cycles. Someone who has achieved a perfect balance of YY and regulates the 5F can call themselves a truly awakened human.

endangering meat and two veg

Sorry for my comments here. Does beating down a man, better than lifting them out of ignorance? And yes, I do have dust in my eyes. But, I also have love and empathy in my heart. Again sorry for my comments here.