Meditation, liberation from ego, control of thought.

[Chanwu]

Control of the mind leads to the forming of the embryo, it is only meant as an allegoric meaning if you ask me. You plant a seed of true consciousness within you, true being, true spirit.

 

If you can hear your breath you are breathing irregulary. Use the mind to slow down breathing. If your mind is racing, rest your mind on the breathing. Breath is controlled by mind, mind is in the breathing, thus you reach stability with this technique.

 

Use your inner seeing and hearing. See the formless, hear the soundless. Listen to the soundless sound of your breath entering your body. See the shapeless void within yourself.

 

You should feel joy and bliss, not tired and drained.

 

Should thoughts arise you just investigate them - where does your thought come from? "Who said that"? Where did it stop? And when you realize this, then you have clear seeing. You cannot grasp it, so now you know the nature of it. You cannot grasp mind. Your practise in the beginning will be full of thoughts, but just passively watch them come and go. Be an observer. Don't follow them - and beware of them taking control. One thought may lead to a hundred others bring triggered. Observe them, let them go. This is dual cultivation.

 

Beware of your ego, it has a lot of expectation and fixates itself to certain experiences and emotions. Whenever you do this you lock yourself at a certain level and don't get further until you release. Don't ignore the ego, turning your back of it and ignoring it leads to it taking control. Acknowledge it and take control of it.

 

Learning about the ego is a very important lesson. It wants great experiences, admiration for your spiritual attainment etc. So when you experience complete bliss during a meditation it will try to hold on to it, get more of it, and when you meditate it will try to produce it again. This is wrong, only passive observation is what brings you further. Observation is not analyzing or anything, it is just being. Analyzing means thinking. Experiences come naturally, they aren't attained through effort, putting effort into attaining some specific experience will only make it harder or impossible to reach. Or only induce an illusion of it.

 

Dual cultivation, the embryo, the germinal vesicle, crystallizing of breath into spirit etc, all such hard to grasp words tends to lead you away into thinking it's too hard to achieve. And it makes it harder to understand the basic concepts of it. It also locks your ego into trying to actively create something within your body, which is wrong. It's only allegorical. You will plant the seed within you by meditating correctly.

 

It is also important to note that you're not trying to escape this world, but to become more aware of it and without ego. Meditation is a tool to remove the filter that filters everything you call "real". It interprets, it highlights stuff your ego wants, it needs, it judges. When you are liberated from this you will experience true joy. Release from negative emotions.

 

When you have control of your consciousness, you control energy. Only when you can meditate can you control energy without moving.

 

Meditating will eventually give you experiences of clear light, being enveloped in comforting warmth, etc. People will have different experiences of this. It will eventually begin to affect your waking consciousness too, filling you with peace and calmness. You can handle all situations without losing your center. You know your ego too well, you know your true being too well, to let problems bother you.

 

That is not to say you are indifferent towards others and towards problems, you just don't let things affect you negatively because you know this is the illusion of the ego.

 

This is the basic foundation, the most important foundation of meditation.

 

Yes, this is all from the secret of the golden flower and perhaps with a little interpretation from me.

 

Regards,

Chanwu

Edited February 9, 2008 by Chanwu

[Oolong Rabbit]

Thank you for sharing this Chanwu. Would you be so kind as to give some of your background? How long have you been meditating? Do you use the method detailed above exlusively?

 

Coincidentally, I just ordered Cleary's translation of the Golden Flower a couple weeks ago.

[SFJane]

"You should feel joy and bliss"

 

why should you feel joy and bliss at all?

[Chanwu]

"You should feel joy and bliss"

 

why should you feel joy and bliss at all?

 

 

That is my best words for the peace and stillness I experience in flashes during meditation.

 

As to my experience, I am not very experienced, nor unexperienced, in fact... I don't think I want to put myself on a scale at all :-)

 

When you think in terms of time and advancement you can sometimes just postpone the advancement. It's only the "filter" that is in your way of realizing this.

 

This is the allegorical meaning of the embryo or the germinal vesicle. This original you didn't need any breath, it was pure. Then it grew up, learning lots of things, what is possible and what is not, what life is and what life is not. When you return your mind to this state you will see the truth, this is what it means.

 

But of course, this is my interpretation. Take it as you will.

[steve]

 

It is also important to note that you're not trying to escape this world, but to become more aware of it and without ego.

Very nice post Chanwu! Your interpretation and experience resonate deeply with me. This point quoted above is so important... it is what rings so false with so many of the magical practices that are currently popular.

 

 

Coincidentally, I just ordered Cleary's translation of the Golden Flower a couple weeks ago.

I think it's a good translation. To me it is one of those books that will validate your experience but not really help you experience. I think it would be great for a Book Club!

 

"You should feel joy and bliss"

 

why should you feel joy and bliss at all?

My experience with what Chanwu refers to is similar. Perhaps he could have said "will" rather than "should" feel bliss and joy. Once the thoughts (which are time) settle; timeless awareness is what is left. This experience is usually referred to as bliss, joy, love, one with God, true nature, whatever... it is a very peaceful, beautiful state yet as Chanwu so eloquently points out, the mind sets a trap. You need to know very well how the mind works to avoid the trap because it will become attached to that state and that's an impediment to progress. The mind compares. It remembers the bliss and compares that to now and wants more bliss. This reinforces duality and blocks progress.

 

Excellent summary Chanwu!

Edited February 9, 2008 by xuesheng

[Guest allan]

 

If you can hear your breath you are breathing irregulary. Use the mind to slow down breathing. If your mind is racing, rest your mind on the breathing. Breath is controlled by mind, mind is in the breathing, thus you reach stability with this technique.

 

Use your inner seeing and hearing. See the formless, hear the soundless. Listen to the soundless sound of your breath entering your body. See the shapeless void within yourself.

 

You should feel joy and bliss, not tired and drained.

 

Should thoughts arise you just investigate them - where does your thought come from? "Who said that"? Where did it stop? And when you realize this, then you have clear seeing. You cannot grasp it, so now you know the nature of it. You cannot grasp mind. Your practise in the beginning will be full of thoughts, but just passively watch them come and go. Be an observer. Don't follow them - and beware of them taking control. One thought may lead to a hundred others bring triggered. Observe them, let them go. This is dual cultivation.

 

This is the basic foundation, the most important foundation of meditation.

 

Yes, this is all from the secret of the golden flower and perhaps with a little interpretation from me.

 

Regards,

Chanwu

 

Well summarized, Chanwu. Indeed, focusing on the breath and letting thoughts come and go is the basic foundation of breath control meditation.

 

But dual cultivation is not like what you have indicated. Dual cultivation means the cultivation of essence and bodily life. In simple terms, dual cultivation means cultivation through meditation and virtues respectively.

 

By praticising meditation only, you are going the Way of Zhuangzi, not the Way of Laozi, Buddha, Boddhidharma and those Neo Daoists who happened to attain immortality.

 

Hopefully, this post also answered those who PM me.

 

Regards

[voidisyinyang]

A good example of how the two combine would be a vegetarian diet. I was vegetarian for 15 years and was so while doing intensive qigong training. But then because I moved and there was no good vegetarian restaurant near my place and cooking and transporting food was a pain -- reheating it, whatever -- I just started eating meat (plus I enjoyed the testosterone and caloric kick). Anyway sitting in full-lotus all the time transduces the anerobic bacteria via the right side vagus nerve -- and the vagus nerve secretes extra acid in the stomach.

 

Qigong master Chunyi Lin just eats one little veggie meal a day and fasts one day a week. He says to stop eating crap! haha. He says eat only 70% full because the food just goes to your head while in full-lotus, etc. At least I stopped dumpster diving and have toned down my fast food intake. Crazy zen! haha.

[Chanwu]

A good example of how the two combine would be a vegetarian diet. I was vegetarian for 15 years and was so while doing intensive qigong training. But then because I moved and there was no good vegetarian restaurant near my place and cooking and transporting food was a pain -- reheating it, whatever -- I just started eating meat (plus I enjoyed the testosterone and caloric kick). Anyway sitting in full-lotus all the time transduces the anerobic bacteria via the right side vagus nerve -- and the vagus nerve secretes extra acid in the stomach.

 

Qigong master Chunyi Lin just eats one little veggie meal a day and fasts one day a week. He says to stop eating crap! haha. He says eat only 70% full because the food just goes to your head while in full-lotus, etc. At least I stopped dumpster diving and have toned down my fast food intake. Crazy zen! haha.

 

 

Don't know why you started speaking about vegetarianism here... but meat doesn't give testosteron (then meat would be classified as a drug/dope, like anabola) and there's not so many calories in it usually, depends on type of meat of course.

 

Your testicles produce testosteron (from cholesterol if I am not mistaken).