forestofemptiness

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Everything posted by forestofemptiness

  1. Well, that's not necessarily true, but more how things are presented publicly or exoterically. Usually such discussions are reserved for private discussions with one's teacher who, hopefully, knows how to steer one down the proper path. There are many good reasons for this. What I think is interesting about many of these people is that when they have a meditation experience or insight, they seldom if ever take it to their teacher for guidance and often reject traditional authentication outright. This is important because trying to lead oneself out of one's own ignorance can be a bit of a fool's errand. In addition, the teacher has the entire lineage to draw on. One difference is my own experience is that non-traditionalists tend to affirm what traditional teachers often deny. But I'm not the dharma police, so people can and should pursue teachings they find helpful.

  2. Telekinesis, Remote Viewing, Out of Body

    forestofemptiness posted a topic in General Discussion

    Anyone doing any weird new age stuff? I decided to play around with OBE as an extension of lucid dreaming, and it has led me down some weird rabbit holes.

  3. What exactly is neidan/internal alchemy?

    forestofemptiness replied to Iskote's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Are you saying that you have completely mastered neidan with your mysterious, unnamed master in the 24-30 months since you came here inquiring about qi machines? Of course you can see why people may be skeptical.
  4. He explicitly addresses Chandrakirti's 7 Arguments from 0:45 - 1:20. His conclusion is that atman "slips through Chandrakirti's net." This is notable because it isn't just an idea he's kicking around, but he presented it to Jay Garfield who is no slouch when it comes to Madhyamaka. I'm under the impression that Michael80 is claiming there is some sort of experience or insight beyond the pure knowing consciousness, which strikes me as incoherent. The video is long, I only posted it for those interested. It is not substantially different from the Holocek interview, the main difference is the direct confrontation of Madhyamaka reasoning. Of course, it is speculated that Advaita via Shankara via Guadapada was influenced by such things in developing their school, so it would make sense that they considered it.
  5. I think this is a different point. Swami S. evidently did a paper showing that emptiness does not apply to the Vedantic Self. I'm not sure how I feel about it. He discusses it below IIRC.
  6. This was primarily in a Vedanta context, but briefly switching gears: Would you say the gzhi is dependently originated? If so, upon what does it depend?
  7. It is not clear to me. The title of the link is "states of consciousness" and even the state "beyond consciousness" is described as a "perspective" and an "experience of Reality." These are all within consciousness. The idea that a state, experience, feeling, or some X beyond consciousness is incoherent. Even if it existed, it would be absolutely unknowable as any knowing or knowledge is consciousness. It would have no relation to consciousness, because any relation is joining or uniting with consciousness. Accordingly, it would be impossible to even consider, think about, discuss, write about, or point to. If I were being generous, I would say that they may be pointing to subtler and subtler objects of consciousness that are often mistaken for consciousness. For example, the feeling of presence, the feeling I am, the sense of infinite space, etc.

  8. sitting practice

    forestofemptiness replied to Barnaby's topic in General Discussion

    Maybe it is just me but this link is bringing up this topic.
  9. Presence and absence are not consciousness, but states of consciousness. From a Vedantic POV, consciousness is not a state, but is common to all states (much as being is not a thing but is common to all things). Accordingly, when you type "the absence of it is very strange at first" means that it was arising in consciousness. This is the problem with non-traditional teachers. They only have their own experience to draw upon, whereas established traditions have the collective experiences of thousands of high level practitioners.

  10. The Power of Chi movie

    forestofemptiness replied to dwai's topic in General Discussion

    I'm not sure that qi emission (fa qi) and fajin are the same thing. Fajin as commonly referred to appears to be biomechanical (i.e. dependent on physical structures), whereas qi emission would not be. At some point, many schools decided to focus on the biomechanics and not the qi. I suppose a well rounded Tai Chi school would have both, although it is not something I've really found (although I am not a deep learner in this area). I'm not sure that any traditional, form based martial art is really functional in this day and age anyway, thus the popularity of MMA.

  11. Is Damo's Neigong Program for Me?

    forestofemptiness replied to Bogge's topic in Daoist Discussion

    I would recommend checking some of his free stuff out first. Some of his public stuff is straight form the academy, so you can get a taste of it right away. There is a foundations set of videos he has posted. My main issue was with the sheer number of practices and the time involved. Also, there is a lot of moving stuff that I personally don't think you can really do without in-person feedback and adjustments. For example:

  12. Damo Mitchell Free MCO Course

    forestofemptiness posted a topic in Daoist Discussion

    I'm still working through his Foundations of Qigong, but if anyone is interested, he is offering a free MCO course: https://damomitchell.com/2020/03/23/microcosmic-orbit/

  13. Video about 玄關/Hsuan Kuan/Mysterious Gate

    forestofemptiness replied to 鞏三孝's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Interesting video. What he says makes sense to me, but I am no expert on Daoist meditation (although it is congruent with some Daoist methods I have been exposed to). There are some interesting parallels with some of the Buddhist expressions I have learned. I've been told the same thing, but in a Buddhist context. In addition, expressing these signs too openly allows the mind to gin up experiences to cling onto.

  14. Experiences with sexual qigong and daoist lovemaking

    forestofemptiness replied to Nuralshamal's topic in General Discussion

    I noted before that this is a skill that one can train in daily life. For example, when we get an urge to do something, we can just sit with that urge for a moment before acting. Other ways to expand this tolerance in safe ways include sitting still for longer meditations, various forms of physical exercise, etc. You can also do practices such as giving up the good parking spots and walking, taking cold showers, and so on. I would not say the goal is detachment so much as non-attachment.

  15. Bumbling along in the substrate consciousness

    forestofemptiness replied to Apech's topic in General Discussion

    Haven't you heard that enlightened people don't dream?

  16. Experiences with sexual qigong and daoist lovemaking

    forestofemptiness replied to Nuralshamal's topic in General Discussion

    There is a well known mental health principle related to discomfort tolerance. Typically, the higher one's tolerance, the more calm and mental strength the person has. Of course, it must be a soft, open tolerance, rather than a constriction or a hardening. In Ancient Stoic philosophy, this was known as eudaimonia. In Buddhism, of course this is equanimity. This is likely one of the motivating reasons behind the modern (esp in the US) mental health crisis--- the easier life and more comfortable life gets, the less toleration people tend to have to even minor discomforts. It gets even worse when people get medication that removes such discomforts completely and never really get to train their discomfort muscles. Fortunately, this skill can be trained, even in every day, day to day environments, and can be learned by anyone.

  17. Sri Vidya, Yantra, Mantra, Tantra, Mudra, Guru Karunamaya

    forestofemptiness replied to Nuralshamal's topic in Hindu Discussion

    How does your Sri Vidya experience stack against your Spring Forest qigong, genital weight lifting, Daoist sexual yoga, and at least two other qi or qigong related systems? That seems like a lot of systems.

  18. Nathan Brine Revised Material

    forestofemptiness replied to Shadow_self's topic in Daoist Discussion

    There are several problems with video: 1. Videos cannot adjust your posture, and many adjustments are subtle. 2. Videos can't answer your questions, or adapt the practice to you personally. They are by nature generic. You can't ask a video what to do when stuff goes wrong. 3. Videos don't transfer the full panoply of physical and energetic cues. I think videos can be a nice supplement, but never a replacement-- at least not any time soon.

  19. Combining Qigong and Yungdrung Bon practice?

    forestofemptiness replied to chidaruma's topic in General Discussion

    This is an issue many teachers have addressed with Tibetan practices--- relaxing the body, especially when conducting holds and locks. However, many of us due to various reasons tend to tense up, and also push ourselves for some goal, which is problematic.

  20. Combining Qigong and Yungdrung Bon practice?

    forestofemptiness replied to chidaruma's topic in General Discussion

    I have asked many teachers similar questions, and they have replied in line with what @steve has said. I think it makes a difference if you are doing a health type practice or a spiritual type practice. Although in my experience, the healthiest qigong practitioners also do something else (usually physical exercises and/or martial arts). Just keep in mind that time and attention tend to be limited resources (especially if you have or expect to have a family and full time job). Accordingly, it may be worth assessing how much time you actually have to spend on other practices, and whether that time would be better spent on the practices you already have. This is especially the case given the variety and diversity of practices one can encounter in the Tibetan realm. More than likely, after a certain point you end up dropping certain practices due to time/energy. Of course, if you are just starting, then it is a different story. I do think there are different emphases based on the practice and the tradition, or even within the same tradition. So basically, by training up some skills, you may be training down others.
  21. I think the better way to look at it is the experience of God rather than the existence of God (or more often is the case a god). God is typically inferred from a series of experiences that a practitioner has, and I would say these experiences are the same but the interpretations are different. So for example, an experience of limitless consciousness to a Christian may be interpreted as experiencing an external being that is limitless, whereas to a Buddhist it would be the experience of one's mind (of course, this is gross oversimplification).

  22. Chronic Pain

    forestofemptiness replied to adept's topic in General Discussion

    I live in a decriminalized state, so a lot of people take and swear by medical marijuana for pain, even pain not responsive to conventional medications. Not sure if that’s an option. I’m sure you’re spending a lot of time researching. For meditation, usually the prescription from a Tibetan Buddhist POV is tonglen, compassion practices (ie Chenrezig) or metta meditation. Mingyur Rinpoche has a meditation on pain, but these really depend on the individual. His brother Tsoknyi Rinpoche has a course Fully Being that I found helpful for different kinds of pain. May be worth checking with a traditional Chinese medicine doctor if you haven’t already—- you never know. Asking for help from a higher power. May you find relief from suffering and the causes of suffering.

  23. Seven Steps to Deep Meditation

    forestofemptiness posted a topic in General Discussion

    This is the most Daobums things I've come across in a while: experiential, "hacking," applicable to multiple forms of meditation, seems effective. From Forrest Knutson, a kriyaban.

  24. Seven Steps to Deep Meditation

    forestofemptiness replied to forestofemptiness's topic in General Discussion

    I'd appreciate it if one of you siddhi folks could inform me of my experience. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Preferably if you bilocate, I'll make you a cup of coffee. It's not either or. It's both and. Study, contemplation, meditation is the Buddhist trifecta. People who are engaging in Buddhist practice should at least be versed in the basics. Siddhis are based, like everything else, on causes and conditions and karma. What gets lost with people who tend to praise siddhis is wisdom, and it is the wisdom that counts from a Buddhist POV. For example, in this Sutta, some one asks how monks can be enlightened without psychic powers. Spoiler: he realized the foolishness of his view. https://suttacentral.net/sn12.70/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin

  25. Seven Steps to Deep Meditation

    forestofemptiness replied to forestofemptiness's topic in General Discussion

    Hopefully this is a guess and not an expression of a siddhi... See, this is what I mean. This is quite a leap from an online comment to a judgment about an entire system and tradition, which I see as a pattern. Of course, lacking telepathy, this is just my speculation. Maybe it's all just skillful means and I'm not developed enough to see it.