Apech

As a Buddhist I am working to eliminate my ego.

‘to not stop thinking’ ( if you get my drift)

I was serious.

The second part of the reverse text is a quote from Spell 2 Book of the Dead. O (you who are) Unique [C7], who shines like the moon, the Osiris, Ankh-ef- [C8] en-Khonsu, goes forth from your multitudes, [C9] (O) deliverer of those who are within the sun-light, open for him [C10] the Netherworld, indeed, the Osiris, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu who goes forth in [C11] day in order to do everything all that pleased him upon earth among the living-ones. In the Book of the Dead this Spell has the heading " Spell for going out into the day and living after death". The real name of the Book of the Dead is the book of 'Going forth by Day and living after death' - and the end of this Spell indicates the goal of 'goes forth by day in order to do everything that pleases him upon earth among the living ones' i.e. resurrection as an akh (a fully equipped spirit that can come and go as it pleases). It starts by addressing the unique or only one who shines like the moon. It doesn't say who this is, it could be Thoth but more likely as it then refers to his 'multitudes' to be Osiris Lord of the Underworld. This would make sense in terms of the desire to be released from the underworld. Those in the sunlight is probably the blessed (justified) dead. Those who pass the weighing of the heart were thought to reside in the Field of Reeds (Elysian Fields) and be constantly bathed in the sun's light. This is a kind of intermediary state of bliss (which is clearly not enough for Ankh-f-n-Khonsu who seeks full liberation). So he asks for the Netherworld (Dwat) to be fully open to him so he can come and go as he pleases. The goal is here framed not as bliss or wisdom or even survival but perfect freedom. He can do anything he chooses and come and go as he pleases.

The middle bit says Bedhety great god lord of the sky (= the winged disk.) on the right ( offerings of ) meat and birds ( fowl) on the left ( offerings of) bread and fish.

Sorry for your loss, steve, stay strong at this difficult time. Best wishes to you and your family.

She said "."

This is not my system so I wait to be shot down in flames but doesn’t the patterning come from shen rather than qi?

Lunatic

Sorry I don’t understand what you mean.

I should have mentioned that in the Judgement Hall 'you' are both your heart and Osiris! So actually you are judging yourself! Or you could say your higher self is judging your ordinary self? Maybe. I see being 'true of voice' being about self consistency. So you have what you intuitively know to be good, your own ethos if you like, and you measure yourself against it. It is a moral position but it's not about just obeying an external code. Because when you get to this in the underworld it is just you looking at you and asking 'did I measure up or was I shit?'

I find this emphasis on belief a bit odd - and very Christian. Christianity promotes faith and in the end science emerges as a project out of western Judeo-Christian thought. The ideas that qi is just oxygen and that meridians are nerves is a result of this I think. Just for the record I was trained up to degree level in science and my father was a scientist. So I have some experience of the hard edge of that world. I understand it reasonably well. It is very effective (including medical science) at its own level. But it does not allow for subtle levels or bodies etc. However I think it can be observed that although medical science is effective at dealing with a range of things - a side effect is to push the problems to somewhere else - hence the massive rise in things like autism, allergic reactions, immune diseases and so on. This is why I uphold the view of the ancients. That there is/are dimension(s) to reality to which you can travel to effect change and 'do things', that there are subtle levels to existence beyond the physical/material, that we are as beings not a single entity but a combination of several and that non-embodied entities of various types exist and can interact with us. In other words I agree with the ancients. And given, for instance, in China this view held for ? thousands of years, was upheld in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and so on, it has a long pedigree, which the few centuries of science cannot challenge. I don't count these things as beliefs because I have tested them out empirically and decided they are true (even though these days would be considered a bit bonkers!). Having said that, it is true that the ideas and diagrams and so on which you will find in books on Neidan etc. are not themselves the reality but merely a kind of clue or code for unlocking it. So you cannot look in a book and literally see the reality of these things. But when your practice begins to work you will have 'oh that's what they meant!' moments where the reality is revealed. This is my position. Here I stand I can do no other.

Yes. But the Buddhist would say that the Buddha did teach this but that it was held secret until the time was right.

Sorry to hear that Steve, Best wishes to you and yours.

can you explain why you think the MCO is a belief? Thanks.

I use Grok but you can’t trust it I’m afraid.

It had to be you @Cobie - the idea that a scientist can draw from Daoist ideas is a completely different point. If you don’t get the difference then you are truly captured by modernism (modernity).

One of the first arguments I ever had on here ( probably in 2007) was with someone who said they were channeling black hole energy. Go figure.

Oh deary dear. Was it Richard Feynman who said if you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics. What chance does a shiatsu person stand and why would they think they are incorporating it into their practice.

I meant modernism but not the art movement. Maybe it’s a Brit English thing I don’t know.

So many hostages to modernism on this thread.

Not you too, traitor!

Gosh

ok

ok? Just ok? is that a no ok or a yes ok? or an ok ok? or a perhaps ok?