The fabric of the 10,000 things

[dwai]

Was in the park yesterday morning, doing dao gong and Tai chi with my friends. We’ve been practicing at this specific park for close to 10 years now, normally from late spring through fall, as winters in Chicago are brutal. 
 

As we were doing the meditation, I started to see what seemed like cobwebs of white light all over, all around us. It is interesting it was visible with both eyes open and closed.

 

Very interesting phenomenon, thought I’d drop this pebble in the proverbial pond and see what happens

[Cobie]

Wow, that’s wonderful.

 

 

Reminds me of Alex Grey, e.g. this painting. 

 

 

Edited Monday at 06:48 PM by Cobie

[Gerard]

Yes that's Qi, the underlying web that keeps everything interconnected, and up and running. 

 

Good stuff.

 

So, no practice in Chicago's snowfields?

 

 

 

 

[dwai]

20 minutes ago, Gerard said:

So, no practice in Chicago's snowfields?

Not in the snow  

[Nungali]

Photo  please  .  

 

 

 

  

[Nungali]

9 hours ago, Cobie said:

Wow, that’s wonderful.

 

 

Reminds me of Alex Grey, e.g. this painting. 

 

 

 

A 'Yin-Yangy ' version 

 

 

 

Net of Being by Alex Grey

[Cobie]

 

8 hours ago, Nungali said:

... Net of Being by Alex Grey 

 

Reminiscent of 木 (mu4) wood, tree. 木 represents a tree with roots, trunk, and branches.

 

Derived from  oracle bone script.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 12:14 PM by Cobie

[Vajra Fist]

Indra's net

[dwai]

This is what it sort of looked like 

[stirling]

36 minutes ago, dwai said:

This is what it sort of looked like 

 

Yes, I have seen this a few times in my life. Once, age 19 in the broad daylight while simply walking across my college campus this appeared slowly as very gossamer prismatic lines like vertices, seemingly stretching between every object you could name or call a separate "thing". It came with it the ability to seemingly know anything I wanted about those objects, but it was actually impossible to ask any questions, which I now realize, was because this visualization (for want of a better word) was only a relative representation of the deeper reality of unity/"emptiness". 

 

The next time I saw it, I had taken a low dose of MDMA and out walking by the ocean in the evening. It was most visible in the connections of the stars to each other. 

 

I would agree that this experience is where our contemporary stories of "Indra's Net" come from, and that such experiences are universally available, though still rare or possibly commonly dismissed as hallucination or mental illness. 

 

In the Buddhist model I would put this phenomena (like most "supernatural" events) squarely in the "Arising and Passing" category of the "Progress of Insight". These phenomena don't MEAN anything, except that your practice is exceptionally deep in the moment you are experiencing it, IMHO.  That's good!

 

More on the "Arising and Passing":

 

https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-iv-insight/30-the-progress-of-insight/4-the-arising-and-passing-away/

 

More on the Progress of Insight (this is unlikely to benefit most casual practitioners):

 

https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-iv-insight/30-the-progress-of-insight/

 

 

I include the links above NOT because the "Progress of Insight" or "Arising and Passing" represent that ABSOLUTE TRUTH about these experiences and are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT about what they are, but because, as a description and working theory it expresses much of what I would say about this phenomena. Like ALL theories, religions, and stories about phenomena there just ISN'T a right answer about what they are, except to say that they aren't the full depth of understanding because they are impermanent and they DON'T mean anything specific except that you are "getting there". Of course, such things continue to show up even after you believe you have "arrived".

(Hint: You never completely arrive! There is nowhere to GO! Just this is IT!   )

 

Some other experiences I have had that fit this category:

 

A whispy "fog" (seen with eyes open OR closed) that starts to form and not quite envelope the visual boundaries seeming to come from behind, and then almost closing the visual space. This usually happens when concentration/absorbtion is very deep but not concentrated on a particular object, as evidenced by intense "Nada Sound"/Celestial Chorus/Ear Ringing. 

 

A nice discussion on this predating my time here:

 

A toroidal distortion in the shape of visual space, where the horizon is slightly curved to the right and left, and the sky and ground are turned under slightly. 

 

 

The perspective seems to be from the empty center. The same conditions apply - deep concentration, no object, Nada Sound.

 

I first saw this during my "awakening" when the first taste of center-less, complete "no-self" occurred with it. I have seen it a couple of other times since then - once on the cushion and a few times when walking in meditation in the forest. It has no "meaning" really, beyond being a representation of the underlying non-dual reality. My teacher says that this one (to paraphrase), "Probably represents the limit at which "emptiness" can be seen by "beings" "with remainder". 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(Buddhism)#Nirvana_with_and_without_remainder_of_fuel

 

[dwai]

Ditto on the fog (I saw this on a regular basis during early days after getting initiated by my teacher), and the torroid (during practice, especially circulating the energy) 

[Cobie]

I cannot see this web, but it does resonate with how I feel inside.  
 

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:11 PM by Cobie

[Nungali]

'Between the stars'  is the relevant phrase for me here .    Where as  'earth based' energies  I have seen differently (on rare occasions ) including in the day sky  (more like it is depicted in some traditional Aboriginal art  depicting the subtle energy  that is  the connection between places) . But with the stars , more like in the picture above . 

 

Practice on the stars Coby  ... but relax, its not something to be forced . 

[Nungali]

Cant post image    

Edited Tuesday at 11:06 PM by Nungali

[Nungali]

 

 

Damn !   Its a good one . 

 

( How come it shows in the post box before its posted but will show when posted    

Edited Tuesday at 11:08 PM by Nungali