EFreethought

Interestingly, this seems consistent with Nuralshamal's post about black magic. He found that the Taoist people he met could not help him with some issues, and he had to look elsewhere. https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/55681-my-experience-with-black-magic/

A few thoughts on this: When Benedict was pope (he was the one who looked like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars), conservative Catholics said that what the pope said was the final word, and we should all be quiet and do what he says. Then Francis came along, said that Catholics should be Catholics, just not be jerks about it, and the same conservatives who said we should follow the pope decided that Francis was not a real Catholic and should be replaced. Even though he was chosen via the same process and probably most of the same cardinals. If you think "the Holy Spirit is correct when we say it is", do you really believe in the Holy Spirit?

Cultivating the mind through the body sounds like what the style I am in does. I wrote about it here recently:

You could request a PPD, and tell everyone that yours is not a "Personal Practice Discussion", but a "Perpetual Photo Discussion".

A bit OT: I think I read somewhere that in (at least some) Indian systems a lot of people have an easier time opening up the higher chakras (like the head) and a harder time near the bottom; some gurus have a hard time getting people to go bottom up because a lot of people want to go for the quick success.

The far right people are always losing their minds over something. It's like they want to be angry. Ah, to be back in the sweet, innocent days of Jade Helm.

Usually people refer to going off-topic as "derailing a thread" (like derailing a train), but "deranging" might be a more accurate phrase.

Welcome to the board. Just out of curiosity: Aside from the state government, what other industries/employers are there in Sacramento?

Just Asian squat? What about horse stance?

What if someone does not live on the ground floor?

Here are two comments on the /r/Buddhism subreddit about someone's experience with both a Theravada master and some Tibetan masters that you might find interesting. They mention being "downloaded" here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/6j7d2b/reflections_after_serving_3_months_at_a_vipassana/djcjgef/ and then in a reply they explain what they meant by that: https://old.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/6j7d2b/reflections_after_serving_3_months_at_a_vipassana/djcrc6o/ There was a post on this forum about a Westerner (John Blofeld, I think) meeting a Daoist master before WWII, and having a similar experience.

If I remember correctly, he did not promise an answer for $20. Just that he would "meditate" on it. Maybe you would get a magic 8 ball response like: "answer unclear".

Do people here think they are actually encountering aliens while asleep? Or just having dreams about alien-like beings? My dreams tend to be about realistic situations. I had a dream recently that I was offered a job, although none of the people I spoke to in the dream was anyone I recognized. I do not remember dreams too often. And I only remember a few small snippets of dreams when I wake up.

No need. I was not asking for a translation. I just thought that someone on the forum was translating something, and they were planning on releasing it, either online or for money. Searches for all forms of the word "translate" yields a lot of results on this forum.

Is anyone on this forum working on a translation of The Golden Flower? I know someone wrote they were working on translating something other than the DDJ. I think it was TGF, but I do not remember.

You know what some people say: BSD is for people who like to run Unix, and Linux is for people who hate Windows. Either is good for me. I run machines made by a company in Colorado named System76. I wanted to get something w/Linux pre-installed and support a Linux vendor if I could. I was not able to find a company selling a machine w/BSD installed.

Here are a couple of sites for your consideration: http://www.visiblemantra.org/index.html https://www.wildmind.org/mantras

I have a few questions about the Zhunti mantra: Isn't there a long form and a short form? I think Bodri wrote that you start with the long form, and after a certain number of repetitions you do the short form. Have you done enough to do the short form? If I remember correctly, the other karma mantra, Vajrasattva, also has a long and a short version. But I think for that one you can just go with the short version and skip the long version.

Do you ever practice mantras with a group? Or just solo? And if in a group: Chanting, or is everyone meditating silently?

Let's wait until The Boss weighs in on that idea.

It's great that Sifu Terry answers questions here. Even though I have only tried FP a couple of times, I still find what he has to say interesting. That said, sometimes I think a FP sub-forum would be better and more approachable than a monster thread. And is it "Sifu Terry", or "Sifu Dunn"?

I replied to an old thread. It happens here fairly often. I bought some tape. Nestor recommended 3M Nexcare tape. So far I have only used it a couple of times. On the plus side, I did not suffocate with my face down. I did not feel alive with pleasure when I woke up. But I have not used it every night. I do feel better when I remember to put it on. I think part of my issue is I sleep on my stomach. I have heard sleeping on your side is best.

I do not deny solo cultivation. Glenn Morris was a solo cultivator, and in his books he wrote about encounters with others. I think he waited a few years to make sure he wasn't crazy before teaching others. But I do not have to sit here and let some jackass (not you, but Mr "Now You See Me, Now You Don't, But I'm Still A Jerk") drop out of the sky and try to tell me he is my master and I am his disciple. And then there was that other solo cultivator who thought they had a great technique, took several attempts to upload a sound file that did not do anything (I guess there is no Dropbox or Google Drive in his ethereal realm), and then a day later said their technique was causing them problems and we should stop doing it.

I have been reading "Breath" by James Nestor, and in it he mentions taping the mouth shut at night during sleep. Has anyone else tried this? How did it go? Maybe this will sound irrational, but I have this nagging fear if I tape my mouth shut that I will bury my face in my pillow and suffocate.

Is this the same person who left and came back? Should we place bets on how long until the next cycle starts?