johndoe2012

How do know know there is a 'who' saying that? Language does not prove a who. What if language did not have who, then there would be no independent people?

Does free will exist at the level you are talking about? Independent of circumstances or is the helping a spontaneous event being witnessed?

This sense of lack and incompleteness for me comes in waves. I have had days where nothing was wrong because the mind was silent and all actions flowed nicely. Then a bump occurs and there is a drop in clarity for some reason. And then there is a continued felt need for practice or another way to clear the blockages that caused the bump.

Maybe it can be simplified....on Dharma Overground the movement called Actualism is followed by many and I've seen destilled flowcharts that one can follow to attain the goal of ending all emotions even positive ones. Even though one can follow what is working there is the problem of discipline and also that you cannot just decide "now I am going to follow this path until enlightenment" because of grace and also that the wanting to get to a certain destination seems to dissolve in the end anyway. So the Western approach to reduce everything that is working like we see in Western medicine to take the active ingredient in fruits or plants and then make a pill is missing the overall picture. In my humble opinion. But hey if it works it is good. There are accelerated paths with divine transmissions, blessings etc one can follow more now than ever since all the transmissions are being upgraded to wake up people from their sleep.

If the shift is simple it should already have happened for the many who cultivate? So why hasn't it happened yet? Maybe it is the just addiction to having a position but I am not sure. Gary Weber is of the opinion that it takes a lot of practice to change the brain and I don't have a good counter argument about that.

I looked into his ebook The God Formula and the formula is as follows Visualization + Emotion + Release = Manifestation I guess it works on some stage but like he says for 10% of people it doesn't. Also there are a lot of methods that do not rely on visualization but are effective. Regarding scientific study on non duality this blog is good http://happinessbeyondthought.blogspot.com

Bindi, I think Paul Hedderman touches upon your question maybe not in this video but in others. What's looking can become an object for the mind to look for in a stage before it gets obvious that what's looking cannot be an object to get. So there is a sense of a seer that sees which in turn makes it into a path for the seeker to find "what's looking" until the sense of a seer gets dissolved.

Don't believe this, it is 100% false and hearsay.

The Chinese tradition is indeed filled with the attitude 'my school is better than yours'. From what I understood the martial art schools battled each other all the time to become better. Why it has affected Taoist Alchemy stuff on this site is a good question. Maybe people should grow up. Teaching openly like Buddhist teachers do is a better strategy as it leads to more students and less probability for a declining tradition.

Deliberate I don't think is the right word... More like being in the presence of a master. Regarding calling off the search then the search is called off when mind gets quiet. One tool could be self enquiry or light transmission or whatever works in the end. Will sit with your question for a while. Good stuff, thanks.

Did you see the video or are you commenting on the title?

https://web.archive.org/web/20070825231430/http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/MsgUnwindingTheGatheringSinew.htm here it is.

So you are saying unless we fix the whole world first only then can we be happy and content? A content and happy person would be light on material possessions and psychological wanting so would be less likely to keep the exploitation going.

I got the heart of bagua video recently and it is really good. The kunlun dragon standing posture is a tough one but very good for legs, shoulders and overall stamina. I skipped the mudras / vajra standings that come after this and went to the circle walking. Really good instruction. Afterwards I felt my back had been massaged thoroughly even though I had only walked the circle for about 20 minutes. For us westerners that sit a lot we need something like bagua to unwind us :-)

A real advaitan would enquire into who is it who wants to be a teacher :-) Paul Hedderman also says to call off the search however there is a transmission of light in his talks. Neo advaita is an imitation of real satsangs. I think energy work or transmission of consciousness is more honest because it up roots our unconcious parts. My main gripe with intellectual teachings is that they tend to not truly transform you.

How do you know ming from the ordinary sensations that qi is known for? How do you tell Zhi neng qi gong has ming?

Neo-advaita and intellectual spirituality is very addictive for the mind. It is yet another area which the mind can excel in, be good at by mastering all the right words and sentences to say. In the end neo-advaitans and intellectuals fall flat on their faces when Truth comes in and knocks them on their heads

Yes the inner CIA will try to dodge Truth all the time.

Reason why you need ming while doing xing practice is that you need energy to transform matter. Matter in this case are blockages in the energy body. There is no need for fancy or mystical language to convey a simple process.

This needs to be repeated over and over and the mental chatter claiming we are doing this and that needs to be seen.

Wells, Which ancient Daoist writing are you quoting from?

What is ming practice if you had to explain it to a 6-year old?

what is your basis for this conclusion?

Yes some use spirituality as escapism. I was unemployed for a long time and it was no fun as it brought up all my survival issues.

The White Mahakala mantra works the same way. I had visions of the poor while reciting that mantra. It seemed to work at my heart at that time. http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/White_Mahakala