dwai

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Posts posted by dwai

  1. Posted

    21 minutes ago, Bindi said:

     

    Kundalini yoga employs breathwork, kriyas, meditation, mantras, postures, sounds, and observation of emotions. All I’ve ever done is work with dreams, analysing them and recreating the feelings in them. The fact that this leads to clearing of subtle channels and kundalini rising does not make it kundalini yoga. It does make it a person centred method that has an outcome that in some ways are similar to kundalini yoga, and apparently it is a far less complicated route. 
     

     It is called svapna yoga and is part of several tantric traditions such as Kashmiri Shaivism and Sri Vidya. Kundalini is part of the spectrum of modalities employed. Of course that’s not to say you’ve not come up with your dream practice completely independently. But the point is that the practice (even if you’ve undertaken it piece meal) is part of the kundalini tradition. 

    21 minutes ago, Bindi said:

     


    I consider samskaras to be the presentation of causal karma within the subtle body. This karma may manifest in this case as feelings of worthlessness or ego stoking, and this can be seen as what drives people but the causal karma remains the true driver. What is distorted about this view? 

    I was referring to how you colored the word samskara to mean a negative thing exclusively. 

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    4 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    This method is not “best practice,” it’s the method you were taught, and that you clearly believe, but it’s not actually the only method and it’s not necessarily the best method, simply because it’s ’always been done that way’ in your spiritual system. 

    if you can do it without using that methodology, good luck to you :) 

     

    It’s not about what’s been taught but what has empirical evidence to support its efficacy.
     

    Do you know why “kundalini” yoga is so hard? Because it doesn’t work for most people. Why? Because it is too complicated and most people don’t have the discipline to practice it. Incidentally that lack of discipline is why any other practice doesn’t work. 

    4 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

     

    Then I’ll make sure I never do any yoga, because separation between the mind and awareness is not my aim. Integration of a clear mind with the Original Self or Atman is the goal. 

    what you describe as your method IS yoga. And it seems to rely heavily on Kundalini yoga to be precise. 

    4 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    I recall threads where you were saying you could bring someone to nondual realisation in a matter of weeks. It wasn’t about purification then, only about realisation. Have you changed your mind? 

    I have never said anything of that sort. Au contraire, Realization cannot be brought about by anyone other than the one who’s seeking it. What can be done is point at what nondual realization is. 

    4 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    Another justification of samskaras. Yes all samskaras are bad, if they’re there it’s because they are an unhealthy way of interacting, eg. If one is motivated by feeling worthless or stokes their ego from helping the needy. 

     

     

    Well, you have just distorted the meaning of the word to fit your view :) 

     

  3. Posted

    13 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    Does moving toward pain mean that I am not acting ignorantly?  If ignorance arises when we act out of fear, desire, or unconscious reaction to pleasure or pain, then moving towards pain might be a way to bypass this ignorance. 

    in order to process emotional trauma one needs to create distance from the mind which acts on those emotions (such as experiencing sorrow, anger, guilt, depression, self-loathing etc). If you can’t do that, you can’t resolve them. One needs to first identify the problem (for which distance is needed) and then identify the cause of the problem. 

    13 hours ago, Bindi said:

    By moving towards emotional pain and examining false thoughts and beliefs this is effectively clearing Ida and Pingala nadi’s. This in turn leads to the waking of kundalini, unwilled and without effort, and kundalini then carries out her work of cutting the granthis and loosening the grip of karma in the causal body. Understanding my true nature follows from observing this action, and doing my part in the process. 

    Any mindful repetitive action will help create the separation between the mind and the awareness. Yoga is absolutely one excellent way to do it. 

    13 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    For me, real transformation requires emotional, mental, and spiritual and energy work. I now believe that only Kundalini can dissolve karma, samskaras, and granthis completely and relatively quickly once ida and pingala are cleared and flowing. Kundalini is the only force that activates and transforms at a level deeper than mere thought or will. Kundalini energy is what actually removes the karma generator, the ingrained patterns, and energetic blockages because Kundalini is capable of working at the causal level as well as a deep subtle body level, transforming and dissolving patterns and blockages that are too deep for mental effort or willpower to reach.

    if it works for you, more power to you. 

    13 hours ago, Bindi said:

     

    I disagree with the idea that intention or understanding alone can break karma, and this system has a bad track record anyway of removing samskaras, all sorts of excuses are made for why samskaras remain in the nondual awakened.

    It depends on what kind of preparatory work has been done. I would venture to say that without proper purification of the mind, nondual realization is not possible. And not all samskaras are bad. For instance If you have the samskara of helping the needy, what purpose would it serve to removing it? 

    13 hours ago, Bindi said:


     

    For me, Kundalini is the key to true liberation from the cycle of karma and samskaras, and it starts with owning and processing emotional baggage. 

     

     

    Sure, if it works for you. Do let us know how it’s panned out for you. :) 

  4. Posted

    1 hour ago, Bindi said:


    Can you specify what you mean by delusion/ignorance in the context of karma?

     

     

    Not knowing one’s true nature as consciousness in which all phenomena arise and dissipate, when action (karma) is taken in pursuit of pleasure or in avoidance of pain, it sets into motion patterns of behavior that accumulate and lead to more such action. In essence a chain reaction of actions leading to more action.

    • Like 4

  5. Posted

    12 minutes ago, Bindi said:


    I see the root cause of karma as unprocessed emotions and false thoughts or beliefs, which interact and reinforce one another. This creates a dysfunctional program in the causal body that shapes our lived reality to align with its underlying patterns. These external circumstances recreate opportunities for us to process unresolved emotions and gain mental clarity, allowing for the resolution of what was left incomplete in previous lives.
     

    Fascinating! I think you’re mistaking the symptom for the cause. If you focus on treating the symptom you can’t cure the disease. The root of karma is delusion/ignorance. 

    • Like 2

  6. Posted

    7 minutes ago, Bindi said:


    The ego’s conditioned tendencies are initially fed by karma - the ego which operates on these deeply rooted conditioned tendencies can be dismantled but this doesn’t dismantle the karmic imperative from deeper layers that continues to operate. Dismantling the ego (through self-inquiry or intellectual recognition) addresses only the surface level of these tendencies. The deeper karmic imperative, rooted in the causal level and the unconscious continues to exert influence. Without addressing karma at its source, the fundamental forces driving these tendencies remain intact, perpetuating reincarnation with its karmic drivers. 

     

    Interesting. What is the root cause of “karma” according to you? 

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    Advaita Vedanta clearly states that you get what was always yours and you lose that which was never yours to begin with.
     

    Instead of looking at nondual systems as transcendence models, I would suggest to look at them as models to dispel delusions (about identity, etc). How does one dispel a delusion? By first becoming aware that it is a delusion, and further by recognizing what is causing the delusion. The source of delusion is the ego which assumes ownership of labels meant for categorization. this works for all forms of identification (gender, nationality, job, skill, and so on). This even extends to emotions. The identification can happen for both positive or negative attributes. The positive part is obvious to most - if someone is good at something, and they get social approval etc, their ego will fixate on it. But it can happen for negative (someone their intellect would rationalize as undesirable) things too. 
     

    There’s an upanishadic parable I'm reminded of. There was a washerman who lived in a typical Indian village a long time ago. He has a donkey that he used to carry his load of clothes every morning to the riverbank where he washed dirty clothes, dried, folded and delivered them back to his customers in the village. One day, he had a big argument with his wife, and absent-mindedly he loaded that day’s clothes on the donkey’s back and walked to the riverbank. 
     

    As he unloaded the clothes off the donkey’s back, he sought to tie the donkey to a branch of the tree where he usually left it, before proceeding  to do his washing. But he realized that he had forgotten to get the rope he used to tie the donkey. And so he was in a fix, because the thought that if he left the donkey untied under the tree to wash clothes, it would wander off. The washerman was poor, and he couldn’t afford to lose the donkey. But he couldn’t go back home either, because his day’s livelihood depended on him washing and returning the clothes to his customers. If he didn’t work, his family wouldn’t eat. 
     

    As he stood there looking stressed, the village wise man, who was walking by, asked him what was wrong. He explained the predicament. 
     

    The wise man said, “listen — this is a donkey, it’s not known for its intellectual prowess. Just pretend like you’re tying it up, and leave for your work. It will be there when you come back.”

    Given that it was the wisest man in the village who gave him the advice the washerman followed the instructions. And sure enough, when he came back with his washed and folded load of clothes from the river bank in the evening, the donkey was standing right where he left him, happily munching on the leaves he left for him.  He loaded up the donkey, and tried to walk back, but the donkey wouldn’t budge. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t move. He pleaded, cajoled, raged and beat the poor beast, but it was as though the donkey was transfixed in the very spot where he had left him all day. 
     

    luckily for him, the wise man whose advice he had followed in the morning happened to be returning to the village around then. Seeing the washerman distraught again, he asked “what is the problem now?”

     

    The washerman explained what the problem was. The wise

    man laughed and said, “it’s very simple. Remember how you had pretended to tie your donkey up in the morning? Now pretend to untie it.”

    Although skeptical of the solution, the washerman followed the instructions. And lo and behold the donkey happily started walking away from the tree. The washerman profusely thanked the wise man as they walked back together to the village. He asked for an explanation as they were walking back. The wise man explained, “donkeys are creatures of habit. Whatever you train them to do, they will do. All its life you’ve trained it to respond to the tying and untying of the rope. It learned early on that it couldn’t wander off to graze elsewhere, so it didn’t wander off when you pretend tied it up this morning. It also learned that it couldn’t move without being untied first, as it would hurt if it tried to walk away while still tied to the tree. So it waited for you to untie it.”

     

    Now let us consider a hypothetical person who has suffered a lot of emotional trauma. It is likely that their ego has to attached to this as an identity. Why? Habit/familiarity.
     

    The mind is comprised of four functions. The field of thoughts we normally associate with the “mind” - - called manas in Sanskrit. The intellect (aka buddhi), which helps in analyzing and understanding. The storehouse of memories and feelings (aka chitta) from which both memories and feelings are extracted when we experience any phenomenon (this happens in a flash, and the intellect then uses these to evaluate and label/categorize it - such as good or bad, etc). Finally is the ego (ahamkara) that affixes ownership of the label/category (such as my memory, my feeling as so on). The ego is like the donkey, it fixates on these labels and categories and stays attached to them.
     

    Just like with the washerman, as long as the donkey was expected to do the right it without the right conditions, it didn’t follow the commands given by the washerman. But once the washerman (informed by the wise man in the parable) figured out the right conditions to make it behave properly, the donkey followed the commands happily. 
     

    Nondual traditions don’t transcend manas, chitta or ahamkara, but using the intellect (buddhi), overcomes the tendencies they are susceptible to, to become free of delusions. Emotions don’t need to be transcended or transmuted, but rather they need to be recognized along with their triggers, and that will allow us to release ourselves from their bondage.  

    • Thanks 1

  8. Posted

    Sunlight is yang and promotes yang qi. Too much exposure can deplete yin. There are certain times of the day to avoid direct sunlight exposure (for example in India it is the noon to 3 pm time in the summer ) depending on where in the world you are.
     

    Also it is not advised to practice things like qigong, yoga etc in direct exposure to strong sunlight (or for that matter heat, cold or wind). The reason being that you need to be in an environment where you can sense your qi and if there are external stimuli at play then your mind is not attuned inward as easily. A distracted mind means scattered qi. 

    • Like 1
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  10. Posted

    7 hours ago, Vajra Fist said:

    Even if these people have genuine power or skill, their character tells me enough about whether they are worth emulating. 

    Indeed! I don’t know what happened to Joey, he is a good-natured person (based on the limited interactions I’ve had with him over several years via FB). 

  12. Posted

    14 hours ago, stirling said:

    This is my experience too. There is a difference when sitting with a realized teacher, I have seen this over and over again. Also, a realized teacher is more likely to get across complex dharma. 

     

    I agree. I’ve had the good fortune of being in the presence of a few swamis who I know are realized (including swami sarvapriyananda).  There is something that happens beyond a mere exchange of words. Similar is my experience with my Sifu - being in his presence has a profound stilling effect on the mind. 

    14 hours ago, stirling said:


     

    Having said all of that I know absolutely that no-one can solely enlighten another person. Properly understood, such an idea is hilariously nonsensical. Enlightenment only wakes up to itself. 

    I agree with this too. I do think that a realized person’s field has an effect on a qualified listener. This doesn’t necessarily require physical proximity - it could be remote/videos too. I’ve had very interesting things happen when I listened to Eckhart Tolle a few times. 

    • Like 2

  19. Posted

    1 hour ago, stirling said:

    Without checking to see if you have the quote exactly correct, yes, that is my experience with it. Any good meditator that can rest in stillness could see the "not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded" in this moment. It's always right here, and can be seen alongside the "born, become, made, compounded". Moment to moment the "born, become, made, compounded" arises OUT of the "not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded". 

     

    that is what I was referring to as recognizing the immanent after "transcending" 

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    On 12/8/2024 at 1:03 PM, Sahaja said:

    .my understanding is that  succumbing to our urges/habits/addictions  burns Jing, applying discipline/willpower (zhi - kidneys) to not succumb builds it. So I would say both sex and looking at our cell phones are a small part of the equation, but it’s a much broader issue and  more fundamental than any one thing.  If one could avoid or reduce the stress of attachments, either desires or aversion, that helps return the Jing towards its original state- stills the Jing. 

     

    The Nei Yeh quote you mentioned points to a different approach altogether, imho. Not using willpower but developing a natural release of the mind. Not by force (willpower) but as a result of understanding/realization of the empty nature of those things. 

    • Like 2

  23. Posted

    The mind is a mirror in which we see the reflection of our Self -- that's the seeing and recognizing part.

    The dust of life settles on this mirror gradually and obscures the image.  So we clean the mirror every day -- that's the maintaining part. 


    Is it necessary to keep cleaning the mirror after seeing and recognizing it? The question arises "Who is recognizing, and who is cleaning/maintaining? Who knows if the image is clear or obscure?"  That one doesn't (need to) do anything. 

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

    15 hours ago, stirling said:

     

    I agree with you... they are something one can tune into like radio stations, but impermanent. 

    Interesting stuff about the 'jhanas'...

    In the Advaita Vedanta tradition, "stages" of meditation are not given much importance since realization requires the intellect to be active. It could be said that even if you enter into nirvikalpa samadhi in yogic meditation, you are still you (i.e., the body-mind complex) when you come out of it. Savikalpa samadhi (a still/settled mind with active intellect) is necessary for nondual inquiry.  

     

    There are preparatory practices that include a combination of yogic meditation (dhyana), selfless service (seva), good company (satsang), and devotion (bhakti). These will help the individual seeker achieve mental focus and establish an active silence/stillness.

     

    The problems encountered in the Advaitic path are as follows -

    1. Chitta mala - Impurity of the mind (can be resolved using selfless service)
    2. Chitta Viksepa - Scattered mind (can be resolved by using meditation)
    3. Asambhavana - Doubts about the veracity of the teachings (these can be resolved in the company of fellow travelers and realized teachers, as well as with devotion to the lineage/teachings)
    4. Viparita Bhavana - Regressive tendencies - these are usually a result of incomplete foundational work, such that even after reaching a certain degree of understanding and clarity, from time to time a "slipping" occurs in the mind of the seeker. These are a result of vasanas (karmic patterns) that re-emerge. On a side note, a holistic medicine practitioner I used to visit told me that problems tend to rise in cycles (sometimes, it is a 13-month cycle, some larger and some smaller).
    • Like 2