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Showing most thanked content on 07/20/2019 in Posts

  1. 4 points
    That's a tough question. But what Everything points out is really true. Taiji is really a qigong ... But not exclusively a qigong. After practicing taiji for a number of years, I took up a qigong practice and it greatly helped my taiji. And I suppose the reverse is true ... taiji can really benefit qigong. As a general recommendation, I would suggest taiji over qigong for a couple of reasons. First, taiji is not only about developing energy, which it does very well, but also about maintaining energy connection while moving. In addition, taiji also develops your ability to sense/receive energy, as well as direct energy. It involves developing intent. These things are true iff you can find a good traditional instructor. A side affect of a good taiji class can be a social one. Many taiji groups are little communities with a family like composition. They are usually a mixed group with practitioners of different levels of ability. Cooperation and support from the group can be a very happy and health encouraging thing. Of course, I am clearly speaking from a taiji bias. So, take it with a grain of salt. That said, you are probably more likely to find a taiji group than a qigong group. Either way, it is really important to have hands on instruction to guide and correct your gongfu.
  2. 3 points
    The Bible shows us that when animals behave strangely, we should take into consideration that they may be reacting to something invisible. What do you think of this story? Have you heard or experienced other accounts of animals doing mysterious things, especially to protect their human from something unusual? Even if you don't believe in angels and other such creatures, I have another guess. Was his animal somehow picking up on subconscious cues from Balaam, who in his heart did not really want to go with these people? (The rest of the story is about the king trying to get Balaam to use his magic for military purposes.)
  3. 3 points
    For it to develop health then you would have to do it regularly, and so you should find something you would actually do and would like to do. And there are many things called qigong or taichi out there. Some just lead to health, others leads to the Tao/spirituality.
  4. 3 points
    I always chuckle at quibbling over what master's words really were and what they mean, instead of reading things borne of direct experience
  5. 3 points
    "When names and forms Are put away, When all judgment ceases, What remains is called The True. It appears like a mirror In which the Infinite Is reflected. It looks back at each Who gaze upon It." "Great effort is required to see that Clear sight is not The result of effort. Overlooking what is obvious is The common obstacle. To see what has been Shining in plain view is The simple remedy." "The present moment resides Between imagination and stupor. When both are rejected, It shines like a lamp in A room with ten thousand mirrors." ~Wu Hsin
  6. 2 points
    Hey guys I've been an armchair cultivator(if there ever was such a thing ) for a couple of years now and am finally ready to stop intellectually shopping around and develop my own path. I'm signing up to share experiences, resources and learn together. My style has been to start with the subtlest teachings and then reintegrate back into the physical. I've spent the last 5 years meditating, screwing with psychedelics, studying buddhism and cross-referencing any other tradition or new age recapitulation that speaks on awakening and enlightenment. I've gotten some level of attainment in that respect having solely focused on debugging the perceptual matrix of the acquired mind but having not paid mind to grounding, moderation, integration, breaks, and self-care I find myself in the midst of a recovery from emotional and physical burnout. I've got space, emptiness and am sated from truth seeking but lack the juice and vitality to be of effective service. I'm excited to delve into a more embodiment-focused leg of my journey and hope my original intuition of vastly accelerated progress based on awakening from the get-go ends up paying off. If not then I will have much sweet advice to give from the many mistakes and wrong-turns I'll inevitably uncover on a path based in humility, transparency and authenticity. If I find my intuitions are confirmed then perhaps the new age is more formless than the more restricted forms and interpretations of the past may have anticipated and we may actually be in the midst of a global awakening on many levels. For clarity sake I think all progress is dependent on the quality of ones awareness which is naturally formless but is bound to the direction of perception it doesn't recognize as none other than itself in-form. In absence of the heavy influence of unrefined perception there is a convergence of the fantastical, radical, atemporal, acausal, infinite and eternal. A well developed foundation of a human life which can integrate these paradoxes well is our goal in order to effectively channel the limitless power we cut ourselves off from until we are ready to handle it in the midst of creation. I seem to have unlocked seamless access to the paradoxical layers of "reality" and am looking to integrate it with the practices and progressions of the gradual paths to see what happens. Rather than a point where no more need be learned I found the joy of experience itself is in the continuous learning and it appears that no matter how often reality awakens to itself its still what it is. Enlightenment is our creation-side name for the eternal and ever present. Creation dances through periods of clear reflection+recognition of that side of the coin and periods of complete disregard for its origin. When something in creation clearly reflects this a ground-reversal occurs and that portion of creation reflects that enlightenment was always the status quo and that creation always does this dance. The enlightenment is not an end because it is endless, creation continues as it does because its function is to do as it does relative to the experience of points of observation generated from the field of eternity. I find awakening to the nature of reality is becoming far more common and ridiculously more accessible than fundamentalists dare consider. I find that with easier access to this as a collective, collective development is also vastly accelerated. This will manifest as that which was said to have taken years or life times to be accessible in months, weeks or even minutes with the right pointers. I found this to be so with pointers to genuine awakening and imagine it to be so with anything else as well. I've always been a bit of a dreamer, my imagination has been vast, and sometimes I've been quite ungrounded. At the same time a portion of me has always adhered to strict reason and objectivity and I maintain a loosely held model of life drawing from just about every dimension of wisdom teachings available in the modern age founded upon an authentic devotion to the illusion of the spiritual path. I'm excited to see whether what I've expressed here is a sign of more immaturity yet to be recognized and re-integrated or the prelude to the confirmation of my life's work thusfar. Either way, I'm enjoying the way <3
  7. 2 points
    here is the thing ; If it was a dog, and the man was hunting, he would follow any and every hint the dog gave of their ' ESP ' . One night, the possom wasnt going to let me inside ; I came home late, walked down the path and he was on the roof, over the door growling. I was " What's with you ? " and he growled more . (Mind you, we usually have a very friendly relationship - not this night ! ). Being tired , I just wanted to go to bed, so I kept going, he leaned out over the roof, more growling. " Hey Dude ! I LIVE here, back off ! " and went to walk under him and he leaned over and starts swiping at me with his claws and making a horrible racket . Only time its ever happened . " Okay... okay ! I go up the back yard and sleep in the caravan ! " - which I did . Dont know what that was about ..... - never happened before or since . ... but I was going to take his 'advise' .
  8. 2 points
    ~ MAITREYA ~ If what appears to be apprehended by the senses does not exist by its very own essence apart from that which apprehends it, then what appears to be the apprehender does not self-exist either. The reason, here, is that the apprehender exists or arises as one who apprehends, only in relation to the apprehended, not in isolation. Therefore, pristine awareness is devoid of both apprehender and apprehended, in all their various forms. Free from subject and object, by its very own nature awareness is a mere indescribable luminosity.
  9. 2 points
    Great story! Thanks for sharing. My view of the story is sometimes the universe or, in this case God, has other plans for us. There will be subtle cues that try to steer us in the right direction... sometimes we can pick up on those cues and other times not. If Balaam was more sensitive to such things, perhaps he would have listened to his old friend the donkey. But his ego got in the way ("make me look like a fool") The angel tells him "You are stubbornly resisting me" How could he resist that which he does not see? I think it has more to do with resisting God (the universe's plan) and following your Ego.
  10. 2 points
    Where the content appears crude and loud, often it dampens interest regardless if you were Jesus or Vishnu incarnate.
  11. 2 points
    Humphrey Bogart looks around the lounge from his piano, at 2 am on a Sunday night, his cigarette is almost done. He sees the rain thru the opening front door as he thinks about his buddy that he lost in North Africa. A beautifully sad, drenched woman enters, her limp, soaked hat folded to the sides of her head. You can tell that she has been walking and crying in the rain for a long time. She sees him, he sees her, he motions to his sax player and this song plays and they don't say a word.
  12. 2 points
    This quote probably applies to all the people that believe in the Russian Collusion hoax. By the way, whatever happened to that story? It sort of fell off the radar. Wasn't Mueller looking into that or something? I can't keep straight all the left's conspiracy theories.
  13. 2 points
    The lower dantien is the heart of the root of the tree - from there upward the energies expand. The foundation from there is less confusing and progress is much faster. "focusing on developing"? this assumes you have an idea upon what you are focusing and developing - this is a fools parade into a labyrinth - but the word alone - heart - it is like a siren calling. What could possibly go wrong? The bedrock of the LDT is in the fire and quiet - the steady earth energies and the pure energies. One is not apt to lose oneself in false love and false compassion and concocted oneness. The rest will unfold as will happen - the proud doer will thrive in focusing and developing anywhere - simply breath into the root and happen from there. A strong root will be needed for the rest to fall away - for the rest to face falseness and idealistic child's play and indulgence in ones praise of ones good intentions. The lower dantien does not have this - it is simple and yet a thousand times more powerful in healing us and dissolving our habituations than heart and head combined - it is what allows heart and head so much leeway in monkey world and the constant beatings that they subject the bodies to. Own the LDT and the path is clear and you are ready for the winds and the tides. Man/Woman stand like mountains here.
  14. 1 point
    Yeah, Peng clearly knows what he’s talking about. His ‘electric shock’ skill is a classic result of high level YJJ skill. There is no actual YJJ ‘form’, just a range of qualities and principles that can be applied to most ‘internal’ forms. It’s the ‘engine’ of internal movement... later it’s also a method of clearing channels and generating very powerful Qi. However - instructions to use muscles or tension is a common way to ‘hide’ the true engine. When masters use YJJ principles, it often looks like intense muscular effort. It’s not. It’s the intense Qi pressure moving through the Jing Jin. It’s a very uncomfortable practice. If he still has any connection with his teachers or his original school, he would be condemned if he released the real information in such a public format. But I might be wrong - I’ve not done his course - just heard about some of what he teaches. Visualisation and use of force, tension or muscles is the usual giveaway - so judge for yourselves. The Qi generated with authentic YJJ is very ‘thick’ and ‘dense’ - when it’s projected it can be very intense for the recipient - often felt as strong electric shocks moving through the body or painful lines of compression/compaction. Treating this way is really dangerous for both patient and practitioner. The training can be damaging if done incorrectly too... most of the YJJ sets on YouTube are fine though - they’re useful stretching routines, but not the real stuff.
  15. 1 point
    My thinking has been there have been several Atlantis type civilizations. Great sea faring city states, advanced for there time, that came, traded and were destroyed by natural phenomena (or not so natural). Leaving evidence in language, genes, plants.. things like the 'cocaine/nicotine' mummies point to very early trade and cross culture of a civilizations that traded but didn't conquer or create colonies. China in the 15th century could have easily passed into Atlantis status because it was so advanced, came, then left without much trace when the old emperor who created a mega fleet died and his successor let it rot.
  16. 1 point
    There are so many layers of wrong wrapped up in this one sentence. The short story is if you want to "win" is to elevate your frame high enough that this woman cuts the games and devotes herself to you. The longer story is if you were to do this you'd most likely lose attraction for her because you'd be able to see the games she is playing.
  17. 1 point
    Come, investigate loneliness! a solitary leaf clings to the Kiri tree ― Matsuo Basho (1644-1694
  18. 1 point
    I think we need more background rather than RM editorializing insurance implications. my guess would be saving money in long run by leaving DC. I grew near DC. Left and never looked back
  19. 1 point
    In a video, Robert said that Yi Jin Jing is a classical qigong style, much as ballet is a classical dance style. He said that many dancers start out with ballet training as a base, even if they then go on to practice other dance styles. Similarly, Yi Jin Jing provides a foundation from which cultivators can branch out in a number of other directions. i think It´s intended as a beginning point rather than an end point.
  20. 1 point
    The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. — Marcel Proust
  21. 1 point
    Hell is empty and all the devils are here. — William Shakespeare
  22. 1 point
    Taiji is much more fun. Qi Gong has more scope for spiritual development. But the biggest deciding factor should be your access to a good teacher...
  23. 1 point
    There are many different techniques for approaching these new levels of awareness. Every person is different and as a result will gravitate towards different methods. Once you find some good techniques, the main key is daily practice.
  24. 1 point
    all them cultural appropriations touchin muh nervez your posts have become noise, Drew. classic egghead that cant connect with the real world/real people, typing in big red font doesnt get your point across any better than if you succinctly summed things up in a paragraph instead of 16 pages that go into all kinds of detail that stays removed from being much of any practical use - which was where the "posts borne of experience" quip came from, as if the space in between b sharp and f flat is going to help one make gains in cultivation.
  25. 1 point
    I think thats exactly the point of experiential insight - knowing the whole spectrum of options, and then exercising discretion, secure in the knowledge of whats appropriate and whats not. In some sense, thats what cultivation means. Unfortunately, your brash tendencies does not reflect well your claim(s) to knowing even basic online etiquette. You have a nice day too.
  26. 1 point
    I find it not surprising that Master Nan contradicts himself on certain points (sleep deprivation) , but apparently - and entirely based on the blogpost that drew quoted- it may be that he placed a special emphasis on practicing brief unforced breath retention after the exhalation. I'm pretty sure that this method isn't described in the anapanasati Sutta.
  27. 1 point
    I mean exactly what I say, no more and no less.
  28. 1 point
    That's so true about MSNBC viewers.
  29. 1 point
    just joined & still figuring out the site - for now, simply the best way to post to the site, lol. all about "that book", the tao and tai chi push hands. pleased to be here !
  30. 1 point
    "At the still point, there the dance is." —T. S. Eliot
  31. 1 point
    Few realize that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. --Albert Camus
  32. 1 point
    Well in the absence of anybody else's comments, I would just say that there are many things that people are doing, and you can read on the forum or investigate on youtube and so on, with regards to subtle energies qigong and magnetism and so on ... and perhaps you can look around and think about what you would like to try and narrow it down a bit, and then perhaps some members here might have some experience in that area.
  33. 1 point
    Conservative columnist George F. Will, who left the Republican Party after it nominated Trump in 2016, explains to Lawrence O’Donnell why Republican lawmakers are standing by Trump and the long-term damage he thinks Trump is doing to America's civic culture. George Will "I believe that what this president has done to our culture, to our civic discourse ... you cannot unring these bells and you cannot unsay what he has said, and you cannot change that he has now in a very short time made it seem normal for schoolboy taunts and obvious lies to be spun out in a constant stream. I think this will do more lasting damage than Richard Nixon's surreptitious burglaries did." Justin Amash "If you're a Republican, please ask yourself if the party really represents your principles and values. You don't need to become a Democrat. Simply stand up for what is right. America's tradition of liberty is beautiful, and it depends on our love and respect for one another."
  34. 1 point
    Just pick some that are real. All you did was dance around a subject without providing anything other than allegation.
  35. 1 point
    Your interpretations continue to be rather colorful, inaccurate hyperbole. Exactly where is the 'resoundingly sing the glories' part ? This may be the problem when one only views one side of a coin without seeing the other side and the environment the coin sits in. Is the coin in your pocket, on a sidewalk, on a road, in a machine. If one cannot see the entire breath of the context, then one is picking and choosing the discrete observations they have. This has been repeatedly pointed out but seemingly ignored. Maybe I'll put it this way: One reason that some ignore Trump [let's say the history, tweets, slurs, missteps, shoddy cabinet] is because that is a very small piece of the entire context of what is going on. Those in outrage mode only see this above and can't see the rest; this is the morality of his person. Those with strong opinions on Trump as slurring racist stuff realize it is maybe going around with others but due to his position he should not while others are ok; this is the morality of his position. Those who dislike his decision making are not used to a different tact and can't accept someone doing something they would not do; this is the morality of his power. Those who can see both sides, see the historical context of defying the person, position, and power see it began in 2016 and has only grown stronger. There is actually no real basis for it except emotional instability, from what i can see. Because nobody in their right mind would get emotional over something someone tweets, slurs, or does just because he is a big mouth, business conniving New Yorker. To get emotional over one person and not see the Millions in meltdown in their defiance is to ignore the greater context. Add in career politicians + Intelligence who purposely (and secretly) attempt to stop an administration. Add in a previous administration who appears to have played a role in looking into an opposing candidate (that is watergate). Add in making up Russian collusion, setting up campaign staff using international friendlies and claiming crimes that are completely shown false after 2 years (I won't mention the money wasted). Add in, Diane Feinstein had a chinese spy as a driver for 20 years; they immediately went to her when they found out. Why didn't they go to Trump when they first suspected staff as 'possibly' working with Russia? There is a civil and political hoax and hoodwink that went contagious to the masses in an attempt by one administration/career politicans/intelligence to try and effect another opposing candidacy... This seems to have much more plausibility than Russian Collusion because we KNOW several facts. There is a basis for suspecting foul play. Please explain where was the basis for foul play in Russian Collusion? All this context is still not complete... There could be so much more detail added in. So, in the midst of all this... one guy is the focus and problem ? Now that is a funny way to be neutral. For the record: I'm not picking on anyone here... but I think the big picture is mostly lost on the most. So... if we want to play, pin the tail on the donkey/ass... we can do that the rest of our lives. Let's pin it on Trump and then work our way through the house, senate, politicians, and intelligence community. We'll need several years to do it. And in the end realize: They are all pretty much doing the same thing...
  36. 1 point
    A history of 72 hours.
  37. 1 point
    cheer up grizzly adams, dont have the same skin snowflakes are accused of having call shit out and dont have an attachment to the level of others' programming. you cant have attachments to people "getting it" or this whole thing is going to drive you batshit. you do have a point about the perspective of "I'm not american so I'm unbiased"...yeah that's a pretty funny assertion, as if the mockinbird "news" does not operate heavily all over the globe, and especially in places where the people saying this have hailed from. CT...the problem arises when "criticisms of Trump" are merely MSM-isms that have been pumped over the airwaves until people start thinking like the airwaves. When you come here and talk MSM-isms straight from the mouths of MSM lackeys, those of us who know the root of the mockingbird's song just cringe, because you basically wind up beginning the conversation with the narrative they have put forth. Trump's history speaks for itself and he's not racist and he's dated a black/half black woman before, he's received awards for his helping black people and stuff, so really this racism crap is just a manufactured wedge invented by the globalists - that's why we dont want to hear about "Trump's racism" because it doesnt exist. hey Jetsun....you're aware of your gov working with my old gov to try and overthrow the will of the people, right? this is all about the subversion of countries by the globalists. if you dont have that in your analysis, its like not having the sun in your climate equations, you will never ever ever reach the right answer and will never have predictability except as a blind cat bumps into a freshly dead rat dont worry, your lazy butts' are in this, too, and we're going to help clean your gov up as part of helping clean our gov up and ridding thw roeld of the bankster Deep State infestation that has been subverting our countries for centuries. some folks in the EU get it the NSA trolls, too, and I like it
  38. 1 point
    If there are two things, what separates them? You need a third thing to separate the two.--- Zeno Does one thing exist or many? What separates one thing from the next? Where is the line?-- Zeno
  39. 1 point
    @alchemystical I saw your post some while back and it’s been knockin’round my head since and I’m here to make the voices stop!!! I guess what resonates with me is that - especially now - human beings are a mess (really from any angle, from where ever you’re standing), and surprisingly so. I’ve been kicking around the internal arts scene for some decades and you’d think I’d understand people enough so I wouldn’t be surprised over and over and over. And I’ve a few friends (from various orientations of serious internal looking) who are older than me and better students that I am, and *they*’re surprised. And I guess my question is, “why are we so surprised, over n’ over?”. What false presumptions about the human condition do we hold, that get knocked over time and time again by actual events? What understandings are we lacking? One presumption I’ve found in my own psychology that, “generally, people are good”. Whether true or not (and certainly it is flawed, naive and true), it doesn’t prompt much ongoing discernment as “functionality”. And god knows we’re all flawed and improving at our core levels in the areas we’re not-so-good-at: veeeerrry long term slow work. A friend of mine had a hard knocks interpretation of Buddha’s first noble truth, “life is suffering”, saying that there’s not a solution to it, that’s the fact of it, and to just be able to get through it. Books come to mind: P.D.Ouspensky’s “The Fourth Way” Any of the non-fiction books of essays by Wendell Berry. Someone here on the board, a long time back, mentioned that when they were in college deciding on a major and considering psychology vs sociology and checked out all the professors from each discipline and found that the sociologists were all depressed. Anyway, those are some rambling thoughts, relevance questionable. cheers, Trunk
  40. 1 point
    Always nice to hear some jazz, whether it is Sunday or not.
  41. 1 point
    It has always been my understanding that alterations to the "self" are multi-dimensional. It has been five months since the re-start of regular practice for me, and I have watched my life transform before my eyes. Some fundamental erroneous beliefs have been dismantled and I feel as if I am emerging from mental incarceration. I have now internalised some truths regarding the way I want to live my life and I am finally emancipating myself. Before, I would implement changes because my head told me to, even if my heart did not understand. Now the two seem to be in synch. I still maintain firmly that had it not been for my practice, I would not possess this clarity. I am also happy to say that my dream incubation ability has been re-activated. I am able to consult and draw results. I am getting many environmental confirmations and echoes of my life situation, what I normally call synchronicities, so I know I am on my true path. as Nelson Mandela said, it is a long walk to freedom! I would like to hear from other practitioners who feel that the practice of FPCK has mobilised events and ignited a deeper connection with their life path.
  42. 1 point
    As far as I know, the Yi Jin Jing(Tendon changing Classic) originally was supposed to be a set of principles, passed down in scripture as well as orally and not necessarily a set of postures. Principles that could be incorporated into a lot of different Qi Gong sets. A certain way of internal alignement would be necessary with every "Yi Jin Jing" Set to activate the Yi Jin Jing process. Damo Mitchell writes about it in Daoist Nei Gong and also has a podcast on it. According to him it's the process of building the deep muscles in a tendon like way, through building of the Huang, through building of Qi (roughly said). It is the preparation of the body for more heavy/high level energy work. Ive briefly trained under a monk of Shaolin Temple Europe, and he's the real deal, and has lots of internal knowledge and instruction in his Qi Gong Sets. So I suppose if one would take fulltime training with them, that that would take you through that process, probably also with help of the "Yi Jing Jin" Set above. Interesting fact on the side... The Shaolin Temple Europe is not officially recognized by the original chinese Shaolin Association/Temple - theyre kind of in a clinge. This pared with the fact that it's run by quite young monks, who apparently do some quite in depth and proper Qi Gong practice (as I could witness in their presence) makes it an interesting place to keep an eye on.
  43. 1 point
    This guy's video has a good take on the dynamic you are involved in. Much of it actually evolves around the woman you are dating, and her (perceived) lack of ability to put a stop to it. He's doing it because for years she's let it happen, and quite likely she's the type that was attracted to his type as much as his type is attracted to her type. This then leads the question of 'what type are you?' although it doesn't necessarily mean you are the same as the other guy. My point is you won't be able to stop this guy with the dynamic between him and your girlfriend. She needs to change herself (usually through self-improvement which takes a LONG time) for that dynamic to change - he'll just keep coming back - see this sort of thing all the time. Until she is able to put her foot down you'll just be getting drawn into fights with her regarding him until one of you gets sick and tired and decide to end what you currently have. This guy wins either way. He'll label you an a-hole (when he speaks to her) because you're in his way. He'll label you an a-hole when you leave 'because he was right about you, since you left her'. My advice - cut bait and run. Work on yourself until you can recognize these traits in the women you are attracted to, and keep working on self until you are no longer attracted to that type of woman. (same advice goes to women that are dating a man with these attributes)
  44. 1 point
    I am not familiar with that book, but I appreciate his writing style and found his book Energy Work to contain strong and effective methods. Particularly in my home it became very useful for my wife in developing kinetic forms of visualizing energy. My wife is an Aphantasiac and does not think in visual terms... ever. She forms no mental images in her thought process, nor in dreaming, so the typical approach to visualizing is lost on her. I really appreciate his simple, direct language in sharing ideas and still use several of his practices regularly on blockages to strong effect. He's got his finger on the pulse in my experience. Good stuff.
  45. 1 point
    Not all Daoist lines place or associate the zhongdantian (central/middle dantian) with the heart, or the heart as being a dantian. Some do, some don't. This can annoy people that want everything to line up and fit neat boxes, but there you go. And no it doesn't mean one tradition is "correct" and others "false", and which is which.... Over the years I've been exposed to several dantian models, all of which follow the internal logic of the tradition that used them. Similar to 'chakra' models (of which there are plenty) used in different yogic and Buddhist traditions.
  46. 1 point
    It does not require "knowing how to develop" A good grounding in proper practice along with breath and attention and intention in the LDT will bear the fruit you seek. The senses can be drawn through / to / into the LDT, there the fire burns away the recoil and addiction. The great personalities of the head, the throat and the heart are not aroused and the solar plexus is not stirred to action - the adrenals are not bent to act and chemical systems are not put into swing. But the root is being given all elements and from there everything is nourished and all currents receive well from the Heaven and the earth and nature. This abundance will soon enough create both a base of stored power and a fount of higher energies for the Middle Dan Tien and later the same will occur to the upper dantien. When you own the mountain first you will not be like a needy hiker who is unprepared for the wind and the rain and falls to hiding and fighting the elements rather than thriving in the land that is made his/her own. Fear is laid to waste in the Fire of the mountain and futures are not fought in heady babble and love does not tear and rip. You feel the pulse from the earth and heavens and all the creatures are your brother and sisters. There is nothing to fear on the mountain - or anywhere. But beyond all the metaphor - from the base the trunk is bigger and far more expansive than is assumed and this is true in all the energies and subtle bodies. The idea of orchestrating this by oneself is as preposterous as the idea that one is by oneself in otherness. We think in terms of higher and lower as good, better, best - a tree with no roots and a shallow foundation is a dead tree lying on its side and withering. Like a chick drawn to flying - the sky calls but all the bones and muscle need to form before jumping out of the nest happens well.
  47. 1 point
    Im not sure i agree that rigpa is the single most important term in the Dzogchen teachings. Its vitalness is revealed gradually thru the 6 paths of building up, applying, seeing, accustoming, last phase, and finally no further training. So someone on the path of building up would not/need not (theoretically) be as familiar with rigpa as say one who is on the seeing path, and as one moves ahead, the meaning and nature of rigpa begins to crystallise, until finally, at the maturation of the phase of no further training, even the subtlest habitual separative tendencies are all dissolved, and rigpa becomes inseparable from sem. At that point the realiser simply rest as is, not even the thought "Oh, Im now resting in rigpa" arises. And the need to continue to look inwards to watch for distractions becomes unnecessary, because at that point the selfless nature of mind no longer fluctuates between sem and rigpa. End of duality.
  48. 1 point
    Realization is togpa (skt. adigam) Rigpa is non-conceptual knowing, or sometimes equated to wisdom awareness (skt. vidya) In Dzogchen, Rigpa has a more direct meaning: The innermost nature of mind.
  49. 1 point
    I'm claiming that you consistently express little regard or respect for the teachers or tradition which transmits this knowledge.
  50. 1 point
    This is not thogal. There is no volition in thogal. If you try to do something and manipulate light or the breaths etc, you are grasping. In thogal you do not grasp. First you enter the natural state and then you let it unravel all on its own. Manifesting deities on the celestial spheres is just creating astral entities. That quote proves nothing.