Paradoxal

44 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

This could be karmic memory at best or wishful thinking at worst. In my own practice with the Akashic Records, clients most often are told that the most significant thing to look at is this life, unless past lives are necessary to consider for the particular obstacle in a client's life and the resulting karma affecting it now. 

I quite appreciate the input on this, as I, myself, am unsure exactly what it was. It was certainly not a "dream", and I don't believe it was "astral projection". Recovering those memories is half of what allowed me to start my journey in this life, as I grew up with an intense hatred and disgust for religion in general, though most of what I had been exposed to up until that point was Christianity and Judaism. I was an extremist, militant atheist. As that was the case, it would have been hard for me to even accept the idea of something that most people could not see, nor would I have been able to accept the idea of cultivation, qi, gods, demons, ghosts, magic, or any of the other phenomena that have become everyday to me. I began studying to figure out what it was, but I still don't have a concrete answer! 

50 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

Here is what was written as I was performing it, so the sentences are a bit strange due to the way the Akashic lords communicate:

Would it be taboo for me to ask how you accessed the written bits? I've not had direct access to the records via projection myself, so I'm not entirely familiar with the process, but I've never heard them express it in written language. This kind of thing very much intrigues me. 

52 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

Godspeed then. I don't think you're a "weaboo" anyway--the actual "weaboos" I've met were the people who had waifus as their wallpaper and wanted Japanese girlfriends while saying random Japanese words like "Kawai!" in casual conversation but denied that they were. They also plagued the JET program and made many students think baka no gaijin were all pathetic otaku. 

As interest grows, so do the number of parasites of topics. Unfortunately, fanaticism is quite easy to fall into. I do indeed hope to move to Japan and I also hope to teach, so I may use the JET program, but I hope I would at least be a good teacher for the students. Students learn from their teachers, whether the teacher is good or not; this is part of the reason America is having issues currently, as we do not have sufficient incentives for capable teachers, though I digress. I'll need to finish my degree before I can even look at that option, either way.

56 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

It depends on the classification of the spirit! Sometimes, a spirit tethered here keeps coming back not for its own sake but because it is here to give a message to someone as an ancestor or to travelers who must heed warnings. 

If it is here to give a positive message, it would be wrong to send it away, but if it is here for itself, would it also be wrong to send it away? I've always had trouble comprehending morals. I would think that if someone were to come and cleanup a lot of the haunting hotspots, it would be an overall good thing, but I don't quite know if it's acceptable to exercise power that way.

5 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

They do--the section is just small and you have to ask for it.  

This is extremely valuable knowledge; thank you!

5 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

With regards to Neil's book above and the paranormal experiences out there in keeping with the topic, you'll gain insight reading in the language, but a language is more than just translating, it's idioms, history, and culture beyond words--but you as the observer and the one who encounters these beings will inadvertently have a different relationship if it's not your history...which is crucial because relationships with otherworldly beings are two-way streets. 

 

The grandchildren of Japanese who lived through Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a particular relationship with their dead culturally and genetically since trauma is passed through one's genes, which is much different than the Nikkei who immigrated to Hawaii or the US before WWII and have had no connection to the country since. So when on a heritage trip, the disconnect between Sansei and even Gosei friends of mine visiting Japan was shown when they had unique encounters with the yurei since they weren't their dead and the yurei could sense that. 

I'm not sure if I could properly explain what I would like to explain even if I were given a million words, so I will give an exceedingly brief summary:

While I am a white "American" in this life, my habits, mindset, thought process, and emotional outlook are generally closer to that of a "Japanese". It's a bit different than the "weeaboo" thing that's going around in westerners today, but it's hard to really explain. I have snippets of memories of two past lives currently. One of the most vivid memories I have is as a child in Japan, dying to the nukes. I don't know whether I was in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, but I remember the morning of until the point of death rather vividly. It's one of my personal inner "demons", and is something that I personally struggle to forgive for. That said, I also recognize that there's no real point in holding on to it, but it is still a rather vexing memory. 

Overall, a lot of my personality seems to have carried over from there, even with my raising in an American household. When I visited Japan briefly, it felt like I knew it more than my own home. The streets of Asakusa felt like home to me, though I'm not exactly sure if it was Asakusa itself or simply the idea of "Japan" that was the home. I need to get the funds to travel across Japan itself to figure this out, but that's a bit far off.

The second past life memory is one that manifested in the same way as the one of a Japanese child, but it is of a Chinese monk in a temple. That said, it is outlandish enough to me that I have trouble fully recognizing it as a memory, due to the fact that I was able to levitate in said memory. It's a memory of myself sitting in the lotus position, floating in the air, and instructing disciples while laughing. Given the nature of this one, and the fact that I am not able to confirm the existence of levitation despite knowing theories on how it could be achieved, it's hard for me to fully accept it. That said, I've found that a lot of "advanced" neigong practices that I've been fortunate enough to have been taught in this life are things that I had been practicing on my own off of instinct before learning about them. I assume these to be echos of past lives, though I don't fully know.

I found that the spirit "wildlife" around Asakusa quite welcomed me, though that may have been normal. 

Back to the idea of insight from language, every time I learn a bit more Japanese, I seem to "understand" a lot more of myself and my techniques than before. My affinity is high, so-to-speak. Because my affinity for it is high, I feel like I will learn better if I learn directly from the source. 

All that said, I do have a question for you all on the undead. If one is capable of sending them on to their next life, is it morally wrong to force them to leave this realm? 

36 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

Seems like you are not familiar with the Kinokuniya as they would have it all in both languages too. 😁 the other reason is that there are some resources that would not be easily found online that the store has.

Indeed I'm not familiar with Kinokuniya by name. After googling it, I'm pretty sure I visited one while I was in Akihabara, but I'm not too sure they had anything in English in that one, as would probably make sense.

I do think that if possible, I'd prefer to read these kinds of things in Japanese, as the use of Chinese characters allows for quite a bit more poetic detail. I'd read them in Chinese if I understood Chinese, but since I'm still working on my kanji, it may be awhile before that is possible...

3 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

 

The Kinokuniya bookstore has plenty of English language resources. I do not know where you live, but in San Francisco, NYC, and LA, there are branches and even in Japan itself there are English books to study. Otherwise, go to the library or even just hang out in a shrine.

On the mythology? I think I'd be better off reading them in Japanese, if I were to buy books on it. I'll probably end up doing most of my reading online, though. That said, thank you for the advice!

20 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

I don’t dismiss the possibility of hauntings but I think if the principle of “bad things happened here, so it’s haunted by restless spirits” held true in all cases, places like Flanders fields and Volgograd should be swirling vortexes of horror. 

It's a combination of factors that produce the end result. "Bad things happened here" is only a trigger, not a full reason in most cases. 

1 hour ago, Earl Grey said:

Yeah, cultures classify things differently. As you were in Japan, there’s a huge difference between kami and yokai for example.

That's true. The one I encountered at sensoji was a local kami, though he never gave me his name. Looked like an ancient scholar of sorts, but I don't think that narrows it down much. He helped me purify some stuff that was bothering me, so he was rather helpful. That said, since I plan to move to Japan pretty soon, I may need to learn more about its mythologies to prep for any weird intricacies.

12 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

Yes, they are ghosts. The undead are only one classification if you look further into paranormal research. 

I would classify those that have consciousness but are not the remains of the living as spirits, but it's mostly just slight differences in terminology. I think that most of what we're saying is the same, but we are wording it differently. There doesn't seem to be any true unification of terminology in this field, unfortunately. 

That said, most of my experiences with these phenomena are that of either the undead sort or spirits, not with leftover energy nor with echos. When those close to me die, they sometimes visit me before they move on, and I would classify such existences as "ghosts". I've only had one experience with a regretful ghost, and that one lived in a friend's house. Doesn't seem to be too harmful as long as barriers are kept up, but again, it was regretful, not vengeful. 

I have, however, had quite a few experiences with "spirits", in that I've come across a few. The ones that stick out the most to me were probably a spirit serpent that followed me around for a bit, an elf that visited a few times, a local deity at Sensoji, a spirit "wasp", and a group of information-loving spirits. That said, I've encountered hundreds or thousands of spirits that were either hostile or of no interest, but those ones were more common and fairly easy to deal with. 

I don't think those that I classified as "spirits" generally interfere with normal people, or if they do it is not attributed to them, so they would usually not be counted in ghost stories. 

8 minutes ago, idiot_stimpy said:

It's an interesting topic that potentially those who are naturally able to project can do so as you say, due to cultivation in a past life.

I'm 100% sure that I have past life benefits, though I don't know the extent of them. That said, astral projection doesn't seem to be one of them. I find it possible that the level of contamination of my body is holding me back, though I've not seen any records of others having this kinda issue. Indeed, I've not seen records of people taking over a year of constant detox when starting cultivation, so my case may just be a bit more rare than most.

4 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

 

Ah yes.

 

There are about five or six classifications of ghosts as I recall, and only one or two kinds are the undead spirits.

 

One variation are "echoes" in time of people who left an imprint in a place, like a person whose presence can still be seen at times entering a study room and sitting in a chair 200 years later.

 

Another variation is I believe the poltergeist which is the raw emotional energy given limited sentience and awareness, something that children and teenagers can inadvertently be behind.

 

And still another is not even necessarily from the past but a ripple from another time or space or dimension, usually only seen by certain people. 

 

Americans, in spite of their Puritanical values, have an unhealthy relationship with death and the dead, much like with their cult of positivity. It is quite strange given the rituals of the indigenous peoples there, and their neighbors to the south with their Dia de Los Muertos with the happy skulls and reunion of families. 

When I speak on ghosts, I am specifically referring to those of the undead variety. Echos of events, berserk energy, and ripples in time are certainly interesting phenomena, but would not classify as ghosts. Same with entities such as fairies and elves. 

Most ghosts from my personal experience are quite harmless, and don't stick around very long. I actually had to have my cat put down today, and she left her spirit behind for an hour or so before moving on. Certainly not harmful, nor malicious; she felt more loving than anything else. The ones that stick around are the ones that give people trouble, typically vengeful or regretful ghosts, and those are the ones that I refer to the environment being good for producing. 

Unfortunately, as countries go, America is in its teenage rebellion years. It hasn't yet found its proper identity, but it is trying to forcefully carve one out. Until it has found its own traditions and history, the air here will be rather bad in a spiritual sense. 

1 hour ago, Nungali said:

I am assuming your magical practice is the source of the techniques you have been using ?

 

What type or school of magical practice have have you been involved with ?  I ask as I am not familiar with ' during the vibrational state. ... I can get the vibrations "  Vibrations ? 

 

Have you tried this  method ?   There is a key element in here :

 

https://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib6  

 

SECTION V   ( with section 1 as preamble )

 

I got over the problematic stage  (  @  Section V : 3 ) by getting the 'astral form'  to do an activity I was very familiar with  (in my case  a martial arts form) - pick something that you are very familiar with and conditioned by . As you imagine the projection of yourself doing the activity , eventually the 'seat of consciousness'  or 'the source of your imagining ' will be centred / originating from the projection. Then you can proceed with points 4 ... 5 ....  and so on .

The techniques I have been using are not sourced from my magical practice, rather, they are sourced from texts geared towards "normal" people. Most of them are new-age-type books.

I practice a variant of high magic, or perhaps divine magic, though, in my case, it's more of a mix-mash of various traditions. Most of the spells I cast use internal energy as a catalyst to influence the external energy with no rituals. Nearly all of my rituals are internal or done via the mental landscape. Most of my current ability is learned from books, experimentation, and enlightenment, for lack of a better term. I was not fortunate enough to have a proper teacher in this regard, though I do seem to have a few attainments from past lives sticking to me. 

I have not tried the method listed there, so I will give it a shot later on today or tomorrow. 

Much thanks for the reply!

5 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

 

If you think the level of hatred is local or unique to America, you're going to have a lot of people from other countries such as Rwanda, Sudan, Myanmar, and so on giving a very loud ahem...

I do not think that the level of hatred is local or unique to America. I am saying that floating hatred/malice creates an ideal environment for harmful spirits to form, including ghosts. That said, I don't quite think that America has *that* many more ghosts than other places, just that it's an ideal spot for them to manifest and cause trouble. 

If there were more ghosts in America than in most other places of the world, which I'm not quite sure of as an american, it would likely be due to the cruel practices that are local to here. Slavery is not local to America, but the level of hatred is. There have also been quite a few governmental experiments that *really* fucked up locals, though I don't know the extent of them.

Another interesting factor is likely the lack of "purification" practices in american culture. We don't exactly have any viable methods of purifying land, ideas, or beings, that are widely practiced. We don't use symbols that lend themselves to purification, rather, we seem to tend towards symbols that invite others in. The cross is that of a crossroad, which allows our world to cross with others. Part of its power is to allow otherworldly beings in, which is why those of christian faith tend to use it for their rituals (it allows their god to enter and use its ability better). On top of all that, we're taught to believe that ghosts are just figments of our imagination, so many people actually go out of their way to piss off the ghosts because they think that said ghosts "don't exist".

I'm not too well versed with practices outside of America, but I know that most Japanese places are plastered with circles and squares, both of which are symbols that are good for sealing. They also build many shrines and temples, which give homes for said spirits. The various festivals in Japan also serve as purification of intentions.

When I traveled to Japan briefly, I finally understood how defiled the energy in America truly is. Japan felt "clean", despite its energetic pressure. When I got back to America by plane, it felt like I was landing in a rotting bloodpool energetically. All in all, America would have issues due to its practices, mindset, and environment.

Speaking as someone who has been practicing magic for around 7 years and someone who started cultivation only a year ago:

I've been led to begin learning astral projection, but I have found it hard to get out of body even during the vibrational state. I've tried many of the normal active methods, including climbing the rope, wiggling out of the body, willing yourself out of the body, etc. I can get the vibrations with relative ease, but I seem to have trouble making that last jump out of the body. Is there anyone here that may know of a way to troubleshoot this kind of thing? Are there methods specific to cultivators for astral projection? What about internal energy techniques to enable easy leaving of the body?

3 hours ago, helpfuldemon said:

Thinking about it, its really hard for me to believe that Im the only one to experience this.  Sort of like a 1 in 8 billion odds.  

You're definitely not the only one to experience whatever it is, but symptoms can manifest in different ways for different people. This is especially true for illnesses of the intangible.

Another possibility I forgot to mention in my previous post is that of demonic influence, though I am not skilled enough to check on you to see if you're under it. That said, I'm sure someone on this forum is skilled enough in projection to check.

1 hour ago, helpfuldemon said:

If I heard about this from someone, I too would suggest it was just energy free flowing, but as it was experienced by me, I had to watch as it took over my body.  It felt like wires, it could have been energy honed in a wire fashion.  It was tangible, and I could feel it peeling away at my body.  It is indeed still going on, and yes, I have seen doctors and their medicine doesnt help too much, though it does offer some relief.  I was really hoping, since so many of you are so well read, that someone had come across something like this that I could read.  I cant believe Im the only one to experience it.  Ive seen glimmers of ideas in literature that might reference it, but never full definitions that I can relate to.  

In the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, they mention wiry pulse patterns, but I don't believe that this is what you're looking at. If it felt concentrated enough to be physical, it's possible that it was a somatic symptom, but I don't know enough to fully recommend anything in that regard. 

Quite frankly, to me, it feels like you have too much unmanaged stress combined with untreated underlying traumas. Speaking from a psychological perspective, there are no mental illnesses that manifest without stress, so it would be good to lower overall stressors and learn coping mechanisms to deal with stress. Yoga is a rather good coping mechanism, as is physical exercise. Emptiness meditation, martial arts, anime, and reading are my coping mechanisms, though everyone has their own fit. 

If western doctors and therapists cannot find anything substantial, go see a TCM doctor. 

There is no pleasure without suffering, nor is there suffering without pleasure. The choices when dealing with suffering are to use one to counterbalance the other, transcend both pleasure and suffering, or to simply cease both. 

3 hours ago, dawn90 said:

Okay. So just to make it clear. Because this is fairly complicated. When somebody. The most general description of a blue aura. How did they come up with these descriptions. What do you imagine, as I imagine you've met several people. What do you imagine they mean when they talk about blue auras. Because it has to come from somewhere. Or are these descriptions a bit too simplistic.

 

Have you met, anybody, you'd say, yes, that description could fit this situation, or these people. I haven't read a lot of the thread you're right. But I've read other threads in the occult section, and some people talk about certain places having a certain energy. So I want to ask a simple question if that makes sense. Would there be a place, on the planet, where you wold say, yes this place is very blue-i, and has this kind of energy that could fit this description. Or is it - because I can't use qigong terms because I don't know them. Or what you answer to. The criteria. Because.

I have to say for a non-qigogn person it's very difficult to understand, how you couldn't understand, what I'm saying.

 

If you had to guess what a blue aura person was and you had an assignment, and had to write an essay or a description, what would you put on that piece of paper. Using your intuition and nothing else.

 

Connect with me. What comes out.

 

What you are looking for likely refers to auras in terms of "magic" rather than "physicality". I've had experiences with different "types" of auras, though I do not have the eyes to verify them myself. The ones that Qi Gong generally deals with involve the physical body, whereas what you are describing is something else. "Soul Color" is what best fits the description in my experience, but that is only my own theory. Perhaps it refers to the age/maturity of the soul? I'm not sure.

https://www.auraology.net/colors 

The above website has somewhat accurate descriptions of the different colors, but I wouldn't put any trust into their bit on the "anatomy" of the aura, as they are mixing that color business with actual physical auras. That said, their information on the colors matches what I've found elsewhere. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding the original source in this regard, so I assume that it no longer exists or has been buried by bigger names. 

That said, most people of any type of color would not even be aware of their own color, let alone find a group of others that share that color. It would be delusional to think that there's a club of "blue only" people, or any other specific color. Said colors can even change throughout the lifetime, as one matures, though this is somewhat rare. 

2 hours ago, dawn90 said:

Thanks. But I don't quite understand what you've just said.

 

I don't have problems connecting with these folk. I just need to know where I can find one. Others.

To know if maybe they started a cult somewhere. Because I always figured that if they knew what they were they'd think it a could idea to start a secret group. You know. Where they can be themselves.

If you were one of these people, would you truly want to identify yourself as such to others? To me, if I were a blue aura as you put it, it sounds rather "creepy" if I were to have someone look for me simply because I had a certain color to me. It's like those that only associate with certain skin colors or search out trophy friends, no? It would seem to me that such people would rather go about their lives simply associating with whoever may come their way and not care about others of the same kind.

4 hours ago, E. S. A. said:

What a sight to see. Never heard of anything like this. 
 

I wonder if maybe something in Paradoxal’s day to day life is causing a influx of toxins that is not allowing you to get pat this point.

 

I am very new to this myself and am very interested to see if I will have any of said effects related to my personal drug use.

 

Maybe a daily log would be useful? That’s what we do in ritual Magick. Very precise notes and observations that allow you to try to parse connections and then further try to discern correlation vs causation. What you ate, sleep schedule, etc... things you feel might have an outcome on your practice. 
 

Cheers,

E. S. A.

The magic I practice is not ritual magic, but the art of making things happen without motion. Controlling the weather for the day with a thought would be a good example of it, but it's easiest to think of it as a soft luck modifier without the need for physical action. It doesn't require journal-ing, nor do I keep records of spells I cast or techniques that I learn. I've actually never kept a journal for anything, ever. It's one thing that's just against my personal values. I'd like to leave very little proof of my existence, if at all possible. Well, that's becoming less and less possible with each post I make online, so I may need to reconsider that value.

Indeed though, my house is not exactly clean. It's cleaner than when I started, but definitely not "clean". That said, I don't think it's at the point where it would cause this process to stretch like this. The only other thing I can think of is contamination in my energy, which would be a bit harder for me to notice, but I do not think is the case given the fact that my internal energy has only risen since starting and my external energy influence has stayed steady with slight improvements. 

42 minutes ago, freeform said:

I’d recommend you o find Damo Mitchell’s MCO course - it’s free and the only genuine teaching on the mco that I’ve come across in public.

I'll look it up, thank you! A lot of my issues with cultivation are in the fact that 20+ years of work was covered in a 6-hour seminar, so I've definitely got holes in my process. He did cover both micro and macro orbits, but I did not recognize how important they were to open until after I'd already had my fire rise, so I'm paying the price now.

27 minutes ago, exorcist_1699 said:

Dantian is different from the acupuncture point . The acupuncture points are always there as important , existing energy concentrated points on the meridians even you do not apply  your mind to it or  just in sleep  .  For example, one of the most common used acupuncture point is on the Large Intestine Channel: LI4, Hegu( '合谷')  , somewhere in between our thumb and index finger,  where  you can sense it by pressing  and holding  it for 2~3 minutes , then you sense some flow of energy along your forearm . 

 

Dantian is something different;   if you do not apply a mind , some intention on it , qi will not arise from it to show its existence   , let alone rising from the bottom of our body to your head . First you mobilize it by slightly apply your mind to the lower , middle or upper dantian ( apply a mind  to the UD , its strength is difficult to grasp , don't careless try ! ) , then later for initializing  higher quality of qi, you apply no-mind to one of them , or just "apply " no-mind to  nowhere ..

 

First off: thank you for the reply!

I may not have been clear in my description, but I am already at the point of being able to use qi from my dantians. That said, I was not familiar with the idea of not being able to manipulate energy from them without intent, so that is a much appreciated point. Does that mean that it is impossible to apply acupressure/acupuncture to the dantians directly? Would this mean that external healing/attacks on the dantians are impossible? I've not tried to mess with someone else's dantians before, so I would not know this from experience. 

I see said past as being instrumental to forming the person I am now, and thus do not lament it too much. I'll probably go see a TCM practitioner once life stops giving curveballs, assuming the symptoms persist. One mistake I have made in my practice was underestimating the importance of the MCO, so I haven't actually worked on opening it until less than a month ago. After beginning on my MCO, a lot of my other symptoms have ceased being an issue, though the purging still seems to be happening. I'll give it a week or two to sort itself out and proceed accordingly.

Much thanks for the input on here!

To clarify, are you speaking of the indigo children? If I interpret your question correctly, you are referring to the "soul" color, which is something of a scale of someone's spiritual development over their many lives. Indigo is near the most mature, with only crystal being able to contest in terms of sensitivity, but crystals are often rather fragile. I would assume a large amount of people on this forum are either blue or indigo, given that daoism is a method to develop the soul, though I am not aware of any sort of special club for those with these characteristics.

19 hours ago, freeform said:

What do you mean by detox? What are you experiencing?

Stuff leaving the body through excrement triggered by energy work. If you're asking for specifics, it's hard to exactly describe it, but it's like the sweat is thicker than normal? A massive level of exhaustion, quite a few headaches, B/O problems, allergy-like symptoms. It seems to happen the most after using my cultivation technique, but does sometimes happen after microcosmic orbit or turtle shell breathing. From the research I've done, this should be a pretty standard thing when building a foundation, but I've never heard of it lasting for more than a year before. That said, very few people have been on the level of psych-meds that I've taken throughout my life, so I wonder if the extended length is par for the course?

As a small example, at a few times throughout my childhood, they put me on enough experimental medicine to make me forget how to talk. For most of my school years, I was taking enough medicine to stunt my IQ by around 40 points. I had issues with going berserk (blacking out, screaming about killing people, and attacking anything in sight; it took 5 grown men to hold down myself as a fourth grader), and none of the western medicine was really doing much to stop it. They removed me from said medicine around the time I turned 20 due to potential kidney and liver failure. After I started studying magic, I found the "cure" in that it was an issue with the amount of energy I had naturally combined with some negative influences, and after removing those influences, I've was relieved of said issue.

In addition, the summer that I begun cultivation proper, I had accidentally overdosed on gout medicine to the point that the doctors said I was lucky I didn't have total organ failure. Funny story there is that I overdosed on Thursday, went to the ER on Friday, left the hospital late Saturday night, and went to the class that taught me the basics on Sunday. Fate's strange like that, I suppose.

That was somewhat of a tangent, but I believe it is sufficient to explain the amount of contamination I started this journey with, as well as reasons for said contamination and symptoms of detox. On the bright side, with each day I practice, I can feel my mind becoming more and more agile. 

On 6/30/2020 at 7:26 PM, Nintendao said:

I heard that some people have a bowl made of hands. I have hands, but I don't know if I have a bowl. I will easily put my hands together into a bowl shape, like as if to scoop up some water. I now have a bowl. I can fill this bowl with dry tea leaves. I can dump the leaves onto my head. It feels neat, but something's missing. I will add water to the bowl. The water keeps leaking out, but through continued perseverance I develop some particular dexterity to close all the gaps and hold the bowl level. It will likely take an even longer time, to keep adding a little bit hotter and hotter of water, before I build up enough to where I can actually brew some decent tea in there. Only then will I have formed the true bowl.

After posting this thread, I asked Sifu this question as well (I hesitated to ask him, as he typically encourages self-study). He laughed at me and gave me a similar answer to yours. From my limited experience, I find this to be most likely. The dantians are already in the body without practices to create them, but practices allow them to assume the form required for this kind of work. 

On 7/1/2020 at 4:36 AM, freeform said:

 

Classical texts are extremely tricky.

 

Context is everything. And there are multiple layers of context... For example in a traditional lineage you'd be presented with texts and their various layers of meaning as you progress... a text designed for the later stages, for example, will often contradict a text designed for earlier stages (just as a physics textbook for doctoral studies will often contradict a physics textbook at highschool level)... Sometimes a text will have an outer layer of understanding - and once you've achieved the process described, further study will reveal a deeper layer...

 

Similarly, some practices in the classics are designed for renunciates - monks or those on long term solitary retreat - and would cause a huge host of problems for practitioners with bosses to please, school runs to do and taxes to pay.

 

Another problem is when translators/commentators think - 'oh this sounds a lot like xxxx from another tradition'...

 

Also the texts generally don't describe practices - they usually describe the correct qualities that must be present ('calm unwavering focus' is just three words - but constitutes probably at least 5yrs worth of various practices to achieve) And they describe confirmatory sings (and often errors and pitfalls)... Usually, modern commentators confuse the confirmatory signs (eg seeing a bright light shining at you from in front of your forehead) and assume it is an instruction (imagine a light in front of your forehead).

 

And so simply going by the classics, it's almost impossible to make any real progress.

I've been reading a mix of classics and more recent works, on top of what Sifu has taught me. Thankfully, I seem to have a decent comprehension of the texts, given they are lining up well with my experiences, but I'm sure I'll keep learning new stuff about things I thought I understood. 

Luckily, I have quite a bit of free time, so I can dedicate more time to practice than otherwise. Thus, I will keep practicing what I have been taught, and will continue to learn more while I can. Thank you all for the responses and input; it has greatly helped me!

It is natural to fear the unknown, but with kundalini, it is counterproductive. It won't permanently go away, nor will it "give up". If it cannot complete its job, then it will remove the obstacles preventing it from completion. This can manifest in bad luck, bad health, mental issues, physical issues, etc. The more you attempt to avoid the kundalini awakening, the more hell it will give you. Take the time off and go through the awakening. It may suck as you get used to the new status quo, but it will be much, much better than attempting to avoid kundalini if it's already woken up.

As for advice on getting through the awakening with as little bumps as possible, I highly suggest practicing zen meditation. The basic gist of what I practice is to get comfortable, clear your thoughts gently, and focus on the feeling you get while breathing. It can and will change at times, and sometimes you'll end up not feeling anything, but the main point is to gently clear your mind as much as possible and allow your body to do what it needs to do.

Other than specialized meditations, the keys are to listen to what your body "needs". You may feel abnormally tired, if so, sleep. If you do not feel the need to sleep, then do not sleep. If you feel that certain foods just don't sound good to eat, even if they are foods that you used to love, then try something new. If you get bad feelings about certain people or things in your life, then try removing them temporarily and see if things improve. 

The awakening doesn't need to take months, let alone years. Those that end up dragging it out do so because they fight against it, instead of cooperate with it. Become like water and simply flow without fighting. 

To preface: most of my knowledge on cultivation is learned via research, experimentation, and my own experiences. I do have someone who taught me the basics of the basics, but they have not taught me further, thus I likely have some common knowledge gaps. 

I've heard people talking about "forming" the dantians in the body as one of the major steps in cultivation. When I first started cultivating, I could already sense the lower dantian, and without attempting to form the other two, I can sense the middle and upper dantian in my body as well. With that in mind, is simply sensing it able to form the dantian? Or is the dantian part of the energetic body by default, and forming is a process that changes it? Or is it possible that I am deluding myself into thinking that what I sense is the dantian? I've been filling and taking from it for about a year now, so I find the idea that what I've been using isn't real rather unlikely, but if it is false, then it'd be best to know as soon as possible. 

Thanks for the consideration,

Cheers!