freeform

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Everything posted by freeform

  1. Vajrayana Discussion

    I hope youā€™re right Iā€™m sure it doesnā€™t run dry - but the body still needs nourishment, and rest and some sort of comfort tooā€¦ as well as a break from teaching once in a while (which requires a surplus).
  2. Vajrayana Discussion

    Haha! Thatā€™s one way of doing it Iā€™d suggest that if youā€™re able to do it intoxicated, you would surely be able to do it sober too. It might take some more work - but youā€™ve got it in youā€¦ just need to find what adjustment intoxication gives you that makes it possible - then work to achieve the same thing, just without the intoxication
  3. Vajrayana Discussion

    Not at all - I recognise that youā€™re authentic and honourable. What I mean is that as she comes out of a monastic setting - ā€˜normalā€™ people can be rather self-centered. In Burma especially, charity, donation and taking care of those on the spiritual path is baked into the cultureā€¦ I suspect almost every single adult donates money, time or food (or often all of those) to monasteries, monks, nuns and so on. And thatā€™s not the case in the west at all. Iā€™ve seen teachers get chewed up in this way. I hope she doesnā€™t as she seems rather genuine.
  4. It appears all over the world in different guises. Itā€™s there in Bushman culture, in Norse cultures, in evangelical churches, in shamanismā€¦ itā€™s there in certain Muslim methods too. All these ā€˜light languageā€™ people doing their ā€˜speaking in tonguesā€™ stuff - itā€™s all based around the same natural processā€¦ It always appears differently depending on how youā€™re pre-conditioned. Itā€™s a real thing. If itā€™s conditioned in a way that allows it to release mental, emotional, physical blockages and refine the flow of qi then itā€™s very beneficialā€¦ But it can (and is) subverted for all manner of other stuff too.
  5. I didnā€™t ask you a question because I thought you had blocked me I had no intention of starting a discussion with you. And I wasnā€™t even talking about you in the first place. It might surprise you that youā€™re not the main character in other peopleā€™s awareness. I simply quoted what you said to continue with the discussion with others here. No I didnā€™t. Read it again. You wrote yourself into that story. I simply reminded people that zifagong has potential issues. I didnā€™t say that how you teach has issues. I just mentioned that people need to be careful and use discernmentā€¦ Thousands of teachers, gurus and masters use zifagong. You're not the only one. You get very defensive and seem to react as if youā€™re always under attack by everyone. Iā€™m not attacking you, Iā€™m not misrepresenting you. Please donā€™t be upset. Iā€™m glad youā€™re sharing what youā€™re sharing - Iā€™m not out to get you.
  6. Vajrayana Discussion

    Yeah she totally gets the irony. It must be tricky going from monastic life (based in meditative practice no less) to lay life with all the issues and requirements of that. Yeah - you can recognise that spark of Shen in her eyes. I just hope those who are anti spending money on teachers donā€™t vampirise her gift and leave her destitute.
  7. I only used rabbit marrow as an exampleā€¦ I could use black liver as an example too. Because youā€™ve talked about the black liver results to you students, that creates a subtle conditioning in the zifagong processā€¦ Iā€™m not saying this as a criticismā€¦ I donā€™t think itā€™s possible to have zero conditioning anyway. By having practiced other methods (vipassana youā€™ve mentioned) - you have also subtly conditioned your own zifagongā€¦ by having read the various sutras and classics - same thing.
  8. yes - youā€™re talking about non-contrivance. In general my concern is more to do with the teacher or the environmentā€¦ for example, zifagong is practiced in some churchesā€¦ it appears a little different - but itā€™s still the same thingā€¦ except in church people are told that itā€™s the Holy Spirit working through them. Theres another group (they even post here in the forum sometimes) who use zifagong - but they tell their students that theyā€™ve attached an immortal master to the student - and itā€™s the immortal master thatā€™s directing their body and mind. Some use zifagong and call it kundalini. Some use zifagong and call it exorcising spirits. Some teachers condition the spontaneous reactions by changing the quality of the qi (for example the various spontaneous five animal frolics). Zifagong is very suggestible by the environment and by the teacherā€¦ just as you tell people to do their practice in an open field - just being in that environment conditions how the spontaneous movements arise. non-contrivance as you teach it is the right wayā€¦ but then you suggest certain experiences will happen (rabbit marrow etc)ā€¦ this also subtly conditions the practice. One of the teachers I learned zifagong from never even talked about itā€¦ people would ask and heā€™d just say ā€˜itā€™s normalā€™ or something like thatā€¦ never said what to expectā€¦
  9. Vajrayana Discussion

    All the most stimulating aspects of the path šŸ˜…
  10. Vajrayana Discussion

    Gone are the days where you can get genuine teachings without some money changing hands at one point or another. You might enjoy Beth Uptonā€™s podcast on that channelā€¦ sheā€™s also sceptical about money (and talks about it in one episode), became a nun and trained in Buddhist meditation at a respectable place with an attained teacherā€¦ she does mention her website, which might rub you up the wrong way, but teaches on a donation basis - so you could potentially learn for free (though would still have to pay to get to her).
  11. Vajrayana Discussion

    Sorry - I almost never keep on-topic! My fault. Iā€™m still very interested in the answers people have for the question @Wilhelm posed:
  12. Just to reaffirm that zifagong can be rather suggestibleā€¦ Very prone to delusional thinking, imagination and so onā€¦ if someone tells you itā€™s angels working on you, you may well start to experience angels working on youā€¦ if someone tells you that it leads to seeing the light of your spirit - you may well start experiencing that. Ive come across many schools that use zifagong heavily and many students think theyā€™ve become enlightened or immortalā€¦ etc. Its a fantastic method, but worth knowing the pitfalls and limitations of it. PS - this isnā€™t directed at Awaken, because Iā€™m pretty sure she canā€™t read my messages (she blocked me ) - itā€™s directed at other people interested in spontaneous qigong or zifagong.
  13. Vajrayana Discussion

    Generating mastery and skill is at the centre of all Daoist methods. Thatā€™s why everything is developed to the level of Gongā€¦ from how you drink tea, to how you play music, to your painting and to your Gong Fu, Qi Gong, Shen Gong and so onā€¦ Only at the stage of mastery of skill can you fully release any contrivanceā€¦ only then can wei wu wei ariseā€¦
  14. Vajrayana Discussion

    You did it tooā€¦ ā€œlearning the Daoā€ā€¦ I guess learning is quite a bit easier though. You've also made the mistake (a mistake from my POV) that 48 is talking about an accumulation of information - rather than an accumulation of selfā€¦ in the past, with great certainty, youā€™ve also made the mistake (my POV again) that DDJ is an instruction manual for governing the peopleā€¦ a mistake so grave that (for me, at least) it calls into question anything else you have to say about the DDJ at all. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø
  15. Vajrayana Discussion

    Yup - practice unlocks the meaning within textsā€¦ the texts verify results from the practice. Well Iā€™m not sure thatā€™s necessarily trueā€¦ sometimes things like ā€˜sitting and forgettingā€™ are misunderstood. Most of the high level teachers Iā€™ve come across have been very smart and successful in a variety of endeavours. My teacher is fluent in 4 languages - and able to get by with several othersā€¦ mostly picked up from his students and patients. Other advanced teachers Iā€™ve met have been very successful professionals in their early life. One became a professor of electrical engineering at a young age, and ran an incredibly successful international businessā€¦ then gave it all up to cultivate. The slow, dim, muddled ones - Iā€™ve never come across any like that that have made much progressā€¦ I mean Iā€™ve come across a couple of ā€˜crazyā€™ ones that crack weird ā€˜jokesā€™ mixed with perplexing but wise sounding sayings - and people assume theyā€™re in some kind of high level, crazy wisdom, wu wei state - but to me it all appeared a bit contrivedā€¦ an act - a kind of lifestyle more than genuine spiritual growth.
  16. Vajrayana Discussion

    And yet you used your reading and comprehension skills to figure that out. Funny that when you click on the ā€œInterpretationā€ tab, itā€™s interpreted quite differently to your personal interpretationā€¦ And that leads us nicely back to the point at hand - the fallibility of using texts as your main source of cultivation instruction.
  17. Vajrayana Discussion

    Nope - itā€™s more like learning a nuanced skill that employs both mind and body - and has a correct outcome and an incorrect outcome. I guess that as you read what I wrote youā€™ve got the ability to pick and choose whichever meaning is more conducive to support your existing viewsā€¦ You didnā€™t pick rackets or balls for some reasonā€¦ and you didnā€™t pick the ā€˜nuances skillā€™ aspect eitherā€¦ I wonder whether this bias might play into your understanding of classical texts too
  18. Side effects

    A hammer is useful coz itā€™s hard and heavy enough to hit a nail into some woodā€¦ but for that very reason it could also damage you badly if youā€™re not competent at operating it (or are competent, but make a one-off error). If you encased the hammer in an inflatable pillow it would certainly be saferā€¦ but you couldnā€™t use it for much. Then there are hammers with splinter causing handlesā€¦ or the head is loose - so when you swing it the head flies off towards your own (much more soft and brittle) headā€¦ Then thereā€™s a good hammer, and a competent hammer operator that does everything right - but still gets blisters from her hard hammer work. Different sideffects for different reasons. Itā€™s worth working out what caused yoursā€¦ though itā€™s never that easy or conclusive to ascertain.
  19. Vajrayana Discussion

    Youā€™re right of course. I have no criticism of him as a person - whether he has passed or not. Iā€™ve only ever seen videos and writings - those Iā€™m critical of, yes - but Iā€™m also aware that he may have been a wonderful son, brother, or father - a good friend and someone that has benefited the world and contributed to others in many other beneficial ways. If he has passed then I wholeheartedly wish him smooth and speedy passage onto whatever is next. šŸ™šŸ¼
  20. Zi fa gong can be started off in many different ways - each tradition will have its own way. Most often, in my experience, itā€™s started off by a teacher emitting qiā€¦ but it can be started off by yourself too. Zi fa gong should, imo, be done with supervision - or at least with someone you can talk to whoā€™s gone through the process themselves - and have led others through it too. Itā€™s very powerful and useful - but as with anything powerful, thereā€™s stuff that can go wrong. So a good teacher that uses this approach is definitely recommendedā€¦ There are many bad teachers that subvert this process though (and itā€™s very easy to subvert as your energy body opens up and becomes pretty ā€˜suggestibleā€™)ā€¦
  21. Vajrayana Discussion

    Yup. Thereā€™s this infamous guy who called himself SonOfTheGods or something like thatā€¦ (apparently died recently, rest in peace, if thatā€™s true)ā€¦ But he used to post videos of himself meditating and using really cheap aftereffects stuff to create various magical phenomenaā€¦ Theres one of him levitatingā€¦ thereā€™s one of him with some kind of fireballā€¦ he also had the habit of putting an incense stick under the camera so that as the smoke passed by the camera lens it created ā€˜magical orbsā€™ā€¦
  22. Vajrayana Discussion

    The issue is (as youā€™ve stated already) that these arts - whether Buddhist, Daoist or Hindu, are primarily oral traditions passed down through apprenticeship. Through master - disciple relationships. Texts in these traditions are very much tertiary. They certainly play a role - but a minor one compared to whatā€™s passed on through direct oral (and energetic) transmission. So using texts - although amazingly convenient - will not get you much at all. It wonā€™t tell you about the practices muchā€¦ it wonā€™t give you very accurate historical dataā€¦ it wonā€™t tell you whatā€™s passed down through the direct apprenticeship. Oh but itā€™s so convenient - you can hold texts up as ā€˜factsā€™ā€¦ you can refer to themā€¦ you can analyseā€¦ you can compare and contrastā€¦ you can collect way more than you know what to do withā€¦ and all from the comfort of your armchair. But itā€™s not cultivation. Reading a book, even ALL THE BOOKS, about tennis will not make you anywhere near the level of even a competent beginner whoā€™s been trained by a coach. I think itā€™s grand to be able to read all this stuff and talk about it. But thinking that it reveals everything about the tradition is just so naive. It surprises me that people fall into this trapā€¦ (but it is just so convenient though!)
  23. Vajrayana Discussion

    haha talks ā€˜academiaā€™ā€¦ then posts a Wikipedia quote šŸ™ˆ Itā€™s not the first time tooā€¦ Its like if Chi Dragon discovered western internet šŸ˜¬
  24. Vajrayana Discussion

    Whatā€™s of more concern to me is how linguists deal with cultivationā€¦ It appears the answer is ā€˜through linguisticsā€™ā€¦ Which is a little troubling
  25. Interview with Adam Mizner

    I only answer real questions