leo17

I have lucid dreams almost every night, to be honest. Until a few months ago I would have them maybe twice a week (even in a regular dream I knew I was dreaming but I couldn't make myself wake up or even control the dream. I could only let it runs its course).

As far as being more aware of my environment around me, my other senses are heightened as well as my reflexes, but they have been that way for some time now as well. So I'm not sure if there is a connection between the two...I'll write about that in my BOS and see if one affects the other.

I think that when you die, you go back to the place you were before you were born: Oblivion!

 

I think this because consciousness requires a brain.

 

It'd be easy to think that you go to heaven when you die. It's easy to believe, because it's what you want to believe.

 

But when you reach a point where you look at things rationally instead of rationalizing the way you look at things, you will understand why heaven is a silly idea.

 

That's why it's so important to live a full and happy life!

I'm not so sure I understood that. Could you explain more why it's important to live a full and happy life if you believe that you're not going to remember any of it when you die (since you will be brain-dead)? I mean why would living matter at all if you won't have consciousness to recall any of it?

"Special powers" don't usually fare too well against bullets, as was seen in the Boxer Rebellion, as well as those warriors in the Congo who thought that their shaman's spell would keep them bulletproof...it didn't work. But maybe Starjumper's buddies have had better training!

They may not necessarily true. After reading watching "East of Krakatoa" and reading "The Magus of Java" John Chang was able to stop air rifle bullets with his bare hands by using Yin Qi to absorb the energy of the bullets. He even helped two others (his students) to do so.

I think a better question is, "Why do you personally want to be a superhero?"

I was thinking there might be some more powerful psychic abilities that people can cultivate.

 

Like what about making people in the distance loose their balance and fall down using mind control?

 

What about making small objects materialize or dematerialize?

 

What abut the art of invisibility?

 

I think there may be some psychic powers greater than those =)

It depends on whether your eyes are open or closed, and if they are closed, it depends on whether you're meditating or taking a nap. Have you tried 40 minutes in full lotus with your eyes closed, meditating? How about 2 hours? If you have, and still feel no pain, I want to know what you know.

 

Cultivation pain is different from muscle/joint pain. Provided your muscles and joints are in a pliable enough condition that is -- if they are not, you will feel ordinary pain, but if they are, then closing your eyes and meditating in full lotus is very different from just sitting in full lotus.

 

That's because you gather your spirit inward this way, and once it starts gathering itself, it comes complete with all the parts that fled from painful experiences. So before you reconnect them, you have to feel that pain, it is what's in the way, it is what's between you and your spirit's wholeness. You can't get rid of any of that pain without having felt it, nor mend any of the disconnections.

 

So, once muscles and joints are ready for the task, that's when cultivation really begins -- everything you've done before are the preliminaries, the warm-up. Cultivation, once it truly begins, can't possibly be painless if it is to accomplish anything.

 

A physical therapist once tested my pain threshold with a special device and announced that it is way WAY high. It didn't surprise me. Not that I look forward to any more pain, but I don't have much "unfelt disconnected pain" left in storage, which is why any new pain is only itself, other kinds don't jump on the bandwagon. The reason for low pain threshold in anyone is just this -- a new pain resonates with an old one of a similar kind, or of any kind just waiting for its chance to surface -- and this amplifies the feeling that otherwise wouldn't be as excruciating in and of itself. This is true for both emotional and physical pain.

I sit with my eyes open. I could sit with my eyes open but it would make very little difference as I periodically sleep with my eyes open and my imagination can be very active when I want it to be. Similarly a few years ago I taught myself a way to focus even when looking at a light directly and keep my eyes from dilating...it was around the time my headaches started forming.

Also my parents made me take gymnastics as a child so bending into certain shapes isn't so painful. Ironically if I sit on a floor with my legs spread in front of me my feet will go to sleep =/ it's always been that way and it can be cumbersome but it's ok because I can walk and run for longer than some of my friends.

Hmmm am I the only one who doesn't feel pain in full lotus? I mean yea, after about 30-40 minutes there's numbness but no pain unless I'm sitting on a hard floor.

Aside from that I have moments where I can touch the insides of ovens at about 325F and not get burned (not always...mostly when I'm not aware of it).

<div style="width:480px;text-align:right;"><embed width="480" height="360" src="http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf" flashvars="rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg449%2Fgoonis38%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" /><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.pbsrc.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif" style="border:none;" /></a><a href="http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g449/goonis38/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.pbsrc.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

I went to bucketlist and put them on there. This is should do a slide show... Sorry Mel

Nope still doesn't work. You can't use a flash code on public forums. You have to provide links to the photos (that are online...not on your computer) by writing [*img][/img*] around the direct link to the picture. But remove the asterisks.

When it comes down to it, I don't have any real reasons to develop remote viewing, apart from the playfulness in me that likes to explore the world and see new places!

Also, I'm actually abit wary of this kind of practice, mainly because it seems potentially dangerous if you're really putting yourself out there without the proper kind of preparation/development.

 

I see the practices of developing Internal Vision as perhaps more beneficial at the beginning. My quandary is this-

 

It's possible for all of us to feel our mind *touch* different parts of our body, and with sustained intent bring qi to this part. I have been told that it is also possible to bring a type of visual dimension to this process.

However, how does one make the jump between the borders of our own body and that of another? Does anything specific change or does it come about only through being able to manifest and wield greater intent?

I'm asking this really in regards to medical diagnosis..

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Interesting point you made--that our mind can touch different parts of our body. In fact all our movements, are controlled by a hidden part of our mind and we just learn to control it intuitively over time until it we do it without thinking about it. The same works with moving our energy and consciousness...it has to be learned intuitively with feeling...not merely by thinking. Energy will flow wherever there is focus.

My advice to you is to work on your visualization skills and listening skills in your immediate environment. With your eyes closed, try just relaxing your muscles (whether standing or sitting) and just listening to how your body works...the beat of your heart, the sound of your limbs as you move them, and GRADUALLY extend your senses to sound of your surrounding environment. As you listen try visualizing what's happening with each sound.

Did not or could not?

 

Have you tried?

 

If you don't mind my asking, how did you do it? What did you experiment with?

 

I'm not trying to offend or pry, if you don't want to answer that's fine, I'm just trying to be thorough for my own purposes of finding something that works.

"Did not"

And I was more or less just trying to relax my mind to and muscles and let whatever happened happen. In my experience it's the image that comes to me repeatedly without any force from me and NOT necessarily the first thing.

I haven't tried voluntarily since then...but I've had some involuntary experiences since then.

Being here has encouraged me to keep my own Book of Shadows and write down my experiences these last couple of months. Also with the feedback I've gotten for my questions, I've been able to improve my normal skills as well.

Try looking for a reason to develop Remote Viewing. I experimented with it 3 years ago to help me with something. I found that as long as the need was there, I could tap into that power. When the need was no longer there I didn't do it anymore.

I never said I believed it...

 

Just annoying for people when they have to look for a video for 10 minutes..

 

I say it's fake though, just me.

Oh sorry, that was meant for the author of this thread. Not you lol I say it's fake as well.

 

That's the lightbulb video.

I'm almost certain that it's not Qi as Qi doesn't have an voltage output...it only feels like it.

The audio was pretty bad in that video and my Italian is rusty, but it doesn't sound like the announcer is saying anything important. Just telling everybody to be still and watch as he demonstrates something.

I can also understand not wanting to put your child through that. But most likely they're not going to remember any of it if it's done while the child is a baby. I certainly don't remember anything, nor does anybody else that I know. It's like being born...you don't remember how you got here but you know you're here.

Everybody's idea of personal hygiene isn't the same...so maybe by removing it while a baby is just a way to make it a bit easier to stay clean? Personally I don't miss having my foreskin (I have no memories of it) and I have no desire to regrow it...many other (circumcised) guys I know feel the same way.

But I guess I can see where you're all coming from. After watching a few episodes of Charmed and Bewitched, I saw how the (mortal) fathers Darrin and Victor never wanted their children to grow up around magic which made absolutely no sense since it was very possible they would eventually develop powers. In Charmed the girls wanted to keep their powers because if their powers were bound or stripped it would be like losing a limb to them, whereas Victor knew that if they kept their powers they could never lead normal lives and evil would keep coming after them for their powers. In Bewitched Darrin wanted Tabitha (daughter) to be raised as a normal child just as he wanted Samantha to be a normal housewife but never really gave a good reason for either desire.

Sorry for my little sci-fi rant lol

To find information on Taoism, information to increase my spiritual side more, information to help develop my abilities more...and while I'm at it, I can help others who experience problems that I overcame.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all very closely related with some differences. It says in the Qur'an to follow the religion of Abraham. But it implies to an extent (where the religions disagree with eachother). During the time when Islam was just beginning, prisoners of war were often made to become slaves but still could marry and have children. But the responsibility of the slave could not be passed onto his wife or descendants...this practice was also common in Africa (slavery in Africa...not the Atlantic slave trade). However many of them were set free by the time revelation ended). By then a common belief shared by many Muslims was (and still is) that no man is greater than any other man (or any woman) except in faith and righteousness. This shouldn't suggest that one religion is greater than another, though...

Actually I was born into a Muslim family but I don't consider myself Muslim for personal reasons.

Well that seems fairly rational Leo, although how does a young child express that he's experiencing discomfort if he can't speak. I will say I'm not too familiar with your religion, so I don't know at what age this takes place.

 

I will add for the first one 'Phimosis' that I think this is quite common... simply because I think I had this.... but... well.... I don't mean to be vulgar but I just kind of worked it a bit...I just figured all kids were the same, 'where there's a will, there's a way'(and there was definitely a will in my case).

Everybody doesn't like to deal with it. I never had to deal with it because I was circumcised as a baby, but I know of a few people who started dealing with it in their early teens and over time it got more irritating to the point where they decided to remove the foreskin finally.

You can't justify the second with the first Leo, not when not all children experience that.

 

It seems that the second point is the main point. Which is based on religion. I can't say I really agree with it, but, in some ways it's not my business.... I do think it's unfair to a child mind you. I survived with my foreskin in tact quite well. To be blunt smelly penis is caused by someone not washing it.... or having contracted something.

 

Can I have a Koran quote Leo, as to circumcision. I'm kind of interested now.

The scent isn't necessarily caused by not washing it or even through sex. Every body has a specific scent and different DNA patterns--some sweat more than others, some need lotion more than others, etc. But even if you clean that area regularly the smell will eventually come back, or at least that's been the experience of every uncircumcised male that I've met and they're not always aware of it lol They have to hear it from their girlfriends/wives/boyfriends...

There is a quote in the Qur'an pertaining to following Ibrahim (Abraham):

Qur'an 16:123

"Then We inspired you: 'Follow the religion of Ibrahim, the upright in Faith'."

And a quote from Genesis in reference to that.

Gen 17:10-14

10) This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

11) And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12) And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

13) He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14) And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

There's another thing I find most curious, and that's why so many Americans and Canadians are circumcised? Who's telling all these mothers to get their kids chopped? It's not so common in the U.K where I'm from, the majority of people I've known are not circumcised, yet the majority of North Americans I've met are.... not that I'm doing in depth checking mind you!

 

 

 

I like a man who likes to D.I.Y!

 

I'm all for restoration.

 

I'm still curious why North Americans are all about the chopping though. I don't get it.

We do it for the following reasons:

Phimosis (when the penis' foreskin is constricted and can't be drawn back)

Balanitis (inflammation of the penis head)

Experiencing discomfort when the foreskin is too tight.

And it's not just us North Americans who do it--this is common practice in every Muslim country as a means for easier maintenance of cleanliness (male circumcision is actually a religious requirement in Islam).

In addition to that, uncircumcised guys tend to have a scent and while that may be a sexual turn on to some people, it smells horrendous to others. For that reason, and the other reasons mentioned we get circumcised at early ages.

I think I know what you're saying and it's believable to anyone who might not have studied his history. But if you have studied it you might find it very difficult to believe that the ones closest to him (emotionally, not biologically) would attempt something like that. Abu Bakr, though he was not related, was Muhammad's oldest and closest friend as if they were brothers (in fact, Abu Bakr's mother was Muhammad's wet nurse when they were babies). He was also among the first to believe that Muhammad was getting revelation from God and accepted Islam for himself. He always put his life on the line for Muhammad (which became a regular thing for most people when the religion) and he was saddened to admit to the masses that Muhammad had died when it finally happened. I doubt he would've gone through all that over the course of 2+ decades just to put himself in power.

As for the many scribes who were taught to memorise the Qur'an, that still goes on today in many eastern countries. Young people are taught to memorize every single verse word for word through daily repetition, that way should anything happen to the physical copies there are numerous copies still left in their minds and can recreate it from memory even if they don't actually speak Arabic (their alphabets are almost the same).

It all depends on who is writing the books.

I don't think it's just that. Much of it depends on an individuals understanding of the original scripture and/or its translation. Whenever a scripture is translated it loses some of its original meaning. Even when languages are closely related, they're not 100% the same.

As I said before, the Qur'an's original Arabic text has been preserved in all copies. But the translations do change. According to what I've read in the case of the Bible, the original (written) language was Greek because Aramaic didn't yet have an alphabet. So it's very possible that some things did not stay the same. I don't know about the Torah because I've never looked in it nor do I read Hebrew.

And you're right, some people do use religion as a means to oppress others (pilgrims of "new world" and their treatment of the Indigenous peoples, Atlantic slave traders, The Crusades, Al Qaeda, etc.). But others will use sheer power to oppress others without necessarily using religion to do so (Chinese government's treatment of minority groups, Nazi's treatment of many non-Anglo groups in WWII, Japan's bombing and terrorizing during WWII etc.) and sometimes people begin to worship things on their own (idolaters, anybody who becomes addicted to something/someone, etc.)

Every copy of the Qur'an contains the original Arabic text, and the original pages can also still be found in the Middle East. Saying that any religious texts that are deemed sacred just because the scriptures say so in order to prove that they're not sacred is quite offensive to those who believe in them, not to mention it works both ways--and neither side can actually prove the other wrong because they are both going on faith that they're right. It's true that every text was written by man--but that's true in the literal sense. It doesn't mean that those people weren't receiving the word of God and it doesn't discredit anybody who believes in those texts because they're going on their faith what they read is true, just like you're going on your faith that it's not true. It's fine expressing your own opinions but be careful how you word your phrases if you are truly concerned with not offending others (talking to everybody here).

I still don't understand how anybody who can believe in metaphysics can't/won't believe that there is something greater than himself. But I guess I won't worry about it all the same.

The Quran is the only text that I know of that has not been altered by man. It even offers a challenge to the whole of mankind and spirts in order to test its authenticity and to try and discredit it.

 

The Quran was either made by man, being an arab or non arab, or God. All texts written by man will naturally have human attributes such as having the posibility of contradictions, errors, and having the ability to be changed and revised.

 

The Quran states "If you doubt that this is revelation from God, then produce just one verse like it and seek help from whoever you like from man and spirit. But you will never be able to do it , so beware of the fire , whose fuel is men( who worship other than God) and stones ( the idols that were taken as objects of worship by mankind).

 

The idols were followed and worshipped and they will be placed in the fire and their followers will follow them in to it.

 

The biggest idol worshipped today is money, but idols include anything that is worshipped in any way, including by love, fear, reverence, reliance, obedience, etc.

 

 

So its a simple challenge that if met, would descredit and nullify the authenticity of the Quran as being revelation from God.

 

To produce a verse "like it", would mean a single verse of the same length of the smallest one in the Quran which is about 4 lines.

 

Similar in language, style, grammer, rythm and meaning.

 

This has not been done since the Quran was revealed over 1,420 years ago.

 

The pagan arabs could not do it and they recognised the greatness of the text and no one actually claimed that Muhammad wrote it himself. The Quran was revealled over a perion of 23 years and its style , meaning and grammer are totally different to all recorded speech of Muhammad. People were constantly looking for evidence that he produced it himself, but his speech was totally different to that of the Quran. That means if he was a fraud, he would have had to scan his speech before he said anything for over 20 years.

In addition to that, anybody who has ever studied Muhammad's history knows that he was not a learned man in the way others were. He was empathic where most men were brutal, and humble where other men would have been egotistic. They should also know that upon his arrival to his village as a baby his village began to prosper more, yet with any miracles that concerned him he never took credit for any of them; he gave credit to a higher power.

One thing that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have in common is their message: "there is one only god." They all brought this message to societies where idolatry was common in hopes of uniting their people. Even if everybody has a different view of who/what god is, you can't deny that they all believe in something that has total dominance over everything. I personally believe that whatever I can do there is someone/something that can do so much more without losing as much power as I do (if any at all).

I never understood why/how anyone who believes in metaphysical energy can't also accept that someone/something put that energy there in the first place or that someone/something may actually be that energy. I'm not suggesting that one should believe that God is/was a man standing over you with a whip and will bring punishment down on you for not choosing what he prefers for you. I'm only suggesting that one should consider it a possibility that something greater than himself could and may exist.