Bindi

In Daoist alchemy or Neidan it is acknowledged that first effort is needed, until the last stage when no more effort is required. Trying to convince people who don't believe this is well-nigh useless, much better to just figure out for ourselves what we need to 'do' in the first two stages.

Nonetheless the historical Buddha taught 'Right effort', it can't just be dismissed across the board because dzogchen perceives effort as unnecesary.

I don't think "releasing all effort'" is Buddhist, as Buddhism requires "Right effort."

No, I really would love to see it, I'm not Buddhist, and I do believe in an immortal self. I would be surprised if Buddha said this though.

I'd love to see the exact quote about being immortal etc.

I like this as a very good brief introduction to the dantians and energy. Ideas about Daoist energy work and where you start are numerous, but I am also of the opinion that you start at the lower dantian, it's good to be clear about where you're going from the start.

You can listen to your dreams when sleeping, mountains of good information there, better than most words I've heard when awake

Yin and Yang as polarities works for me, two opposite but complementary forces that cannot disappear but can be brought into harmony and work together instead of one or the other being dominant.

I would say there are multiple layers of 'flowering' that occur at specific stages, it depends what system you follow. As part of the dantian system which makes sense to me, what happens in what order is vital, ideally there is a naturally ordained order in which they will unfold.

Pffft, seven chakras are just so yesterday, there are at least 22...

The Tai chi symbol is starkly black and white, which could be synonymous with dark and light. To inner sight black is the realm of the unconscious inward looking mind and white is associated with outward looking conscious awareness. Dark and light might be the attributes that best describe this polarity of conscious and unconscious in terms that our minds can understand.

I believe it is turning outward looking attention in, and I would say in towards what was until then mostly dark and unconscious in our mind. But I believe 'turning around the light' is the result of previous work at the heart level and is not a method to be practised as it happens naturally, just as the MCO opens naturally at a certain stage.

It seems to me that if you have collected enough basically wise sentences, an appropriate answer may often be imagined, and if the answer doesn't fit it can always be blamed on the question or the interpreter. I can't imagine any direct association exists between random answers to any specific question beyond chance.

I came across this quote, I think it's relevant to your point - "The only object of the ego of man, the seat of the ‘I,’ is to realise its identity with god. It is in this school of the world to learn this one lesson: to forget it’s limitations and actively to realise its oneness with all.” – Sri Dada

If cosmic cycles are referring to something matter-based, wouldn't evolution be possible if consciousness aimed to evolve beyond matter/time/space and therefore outside of the cosmic cycle?