The Light

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by marpat

Have you?

I have not read the Egyptian book of the dead, but have read the Tibetan book of the dead and when i get time i dissolve the winds or elements on a regular basis as this is tantra practise,MahaMudra) and mixing the mind of clear bliss with emptiness,just takes time and practise and as to be done with a mind of Bodhichitta.

My practise is Guide to Dakini land and Heart jewel,but the practise should be always in everyday life generating oneself as a Deity and trying to keep this in mind throughout the day and night.

Combining Sutra and tantra.

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by stewart edwards

Well worth studying. Cant recommend it highly enough. My favourite tie is a weighing of the heart one. I wore it long before I understood its significance.

No. I try not to get too hung up about esoteric theory, it is much more fun to watch the esoterics hidden in your daily life sowly reveal itself to you as you wander through life and pass the veils. Or as Shrek may put it, peel back the layers of the onion of life (or ogre).

Is no one out there able to answer my original question? Can anyone point me to acknowledge and accepted Church texts that discuss the experience of travelling down the tunnel of light to the gates of heaven? Or is this just fever driven fantasy?

I like the onion answer and yes when i get around to it i will definitely read the Egyptian book of the dead i am in the process of building a house at the moment.

The tunnel experience is your winds dissolving in to the clear light of bliss but if you are not experienced it will just pass,like when you go to sleep, dream and then wake,as this process is similar to dying, the Bardo state and rebirth.

Life is one big road with lots of signs, yes!
So when you riding through the ruts, don't you complicate your mind:
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy!
Don't bury your thoughts; put your dream to reality, yeah!

[stewart edwards]

Originally Posted by lightgiver

The tunnel experience is your winds dissolving in to the clear light of bliss but if you are not experienced it will just pass,like when you go to sleep, dream and then wake,

What about pre tunnel experiences and tests? What about events at the end of the tunnel?

These are not really questions as I know the answers as I have been there. But I am curious about your terminology. Often I have trouble with esoteric terminology, if not the concepts.

My only concern is to see how well or poorly what I dreamt accords with church opinions. The scientific/medical side seems easier to penetrate.

[marpat]

Originally Posted by lightgiver

I have not read the Egyptian book of the dead, but have read the Tibetan book of the dead and when i get time i dissolve the winds or elements on a regular basis as this is tantra practise,MahaMudra) and mixing the mind of clear bliss with emptiness,just takes time and practise and as to be done with a mind of Bodhichitta.

My practise is Guide to Dakini land and Heart jewel,but the practise should be always in everyday life generating oneself as a Deity and trying to keep this in mind throughout the day and night.

Combining Sutra and tantra.

I prefer the direct methods of dzogchen myself

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by marpat

I prefer the direct methods of dzogchen myself

Is it not similar.I have read about it in the Tibetan book of living and dying by soygal rinpoche.
I am happy with the empowerment i received.

According to some schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of every sentient being, including every human being. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is the central teaching of the Nyingma school and is considered by them to be the highest and most definitive path to enlightenment. The Madhyamaka teachings on emptiness are fundamental to and thoroughly compatible with Dzogchen practices.

same thing.

So what does your practise consist of?

Mahayana or Madhyamaka is the highest teaching of the last Buddha.If done correctly all paths lead to the same state.

BTW all labels are empty.

[marpat]

Originally Posted by lightgiver

Is it not similar.I have read about it in the Tibetan book of living and dying by soygal rinpoche.
I am happy with the empowerment i received.

According to some schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of every sentient being, including every human being. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is the central teaching of the Nyingma school and is considered by them to be the highest and most definitive path to enlightenment. The Madhyamaka teachings on emptiness are fundamental to and thoroughly compatible with Dzogchen practices.

same thing.

So what does your practise consist of?

Mahayana or Madhyamaka is the highest teaching of the last Buddha.If done correctly all paths lead to the same state.

BTW all labels are empty.

It is not the same things as visualising protective deities or things like that. It is a direct recognition of the emptiness of mind. The natural state of mind often presents itself in daily life, we just need to grasp it and rest in it, which is often easier said than done.

The tantric methods are a longer way of doing things and are often used as a preparation.

A good book on the subject is 'The Crystal and the Way of Light'

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by marpat

It is not the same things as visualising protective deities or things like that. It is a direct recognition of the emptiness of mind. The natural state of mind often presents itself in daily life, we just need to grasp it and rest in it, which is often easier said than done.

The tantric methods are a longer way of doing things and are often used as a preparation.

A good book on the subject is 'The Crystal and the Way of Light'

The quick path to great bliss

ON VARJAYANA

A short description of Varjayana Buddhism. Vajrayana is described as "the Quick Path". It is supposed to be the fastest path to Nirvana. However, this path is extremely difficult to practice. It requires, for example, complete renunciation, bodhicitta, and selflessness as pre-requisites. The venerable emphasized that the practice of Varjayana MUST be based on the foundation of basic teachings & cannot be practised just by itself. A very interesting analogy. "Vajrayana is like flying a jet. It's faster than driving a car, but u must spend extra time learning the jet before u can start to fly. Otherwise, u either never get there or crash to the ground".

I will check out book.

I am very happy though with my practise.

also even the emptiness of the mind is empty and so is that,and yes it is easier said than done.

[stewart edwards]

Whats the rush?

Savour the hidden beauty of life while you can. Once you can see it obviously. Death comes to us all in good time.

There is a very simple lesson in life - learn the lessons you need to learn and experience what you need to experience -do what you need to do. Once you have done these things you can leave this existence. But if you rush you will miss so so much.

Once you have done enough the gates of heaven will be open to you.

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by stewart edwards

What about pre tunnel experiences and tests? What about events at the end of the tunnel?

These are not really questions as I know the answers as I have been there. But I am curious about your terminology. Often I have trouble with esoteric terminology, if not the concepts.

My only concern is to see how well or poorly what I dreamt accords with church opinions. The scientific/medical side seems easier to penetrate.

The events at the end of the tunnel is like when you wake ,you only remember the dream on waking not actually while you are dreaming,there are practises on the yoga of sleep ,but like any enlightenment path it takes effort,practise and watching the mind,no one said it is easy

"Without the discipline of guarding the mind, what use are any other disciplines?"

Nothing exists from its own side,life is an illusion and we grasp on to it though it is real,even though in a conventional sense it is,but in the ultimate sense it is not,take a tree for example,the tree exists through reliance on other factors IE,sun, moon,rain, earth ETC and it only comes into existence for you because your mind as to apprehend it,when you are not apprehending the tree with your eye consciousness you still know in your mind that it exists in your garden.

Everything stems from your mind.

Just ask your self, Where exactly is the label Stewart?

[lightgiver]

Originally Posted by stewart edwards

Whats the rush?

Savour the hidden beauty of life while you can. Once you can see it obviously. Death comes to us all in good time.

There is a very simple lesson in life - learn the lessons you need to learn and experience what you need to experience -do what you need to do. Once you have done these things you can leave this existence. But if you rush you will miss so so much.

Once you have done enough the gates of heaven will be open to you.

Death is another illusion,what counts are your actions why you are alive.

Yes savour life,some do not realise how important a precious human rebirth is especially when you are blessed with the ten endowments.

and yes Stewart no rush be in the moment always.

i do enjoy this one,

"About this mind... In truth there is nothing really wrong with it. It is intrinsically pure. Within itself it's already peaceful. That the mind is not peaceful these days is because it follows moods. The real mind doesn't have anything to it, it is simply (an aspect of) Nature. It becomes peaceful or agitated because moods deceive it. The untrained mind is stupid. Sense impressions come and trick it into happiness, suffering, gladness and sorrow, but the mind's true nature is none of those things. That gladness or sadness is not the mind, but only a mood coming to deceive us. The untrained mind gets lost and follows these things, it forgets itself. Then we think that it is we who are upset or at ease or whatever.
But really this mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful... really peaceful! Just like a leaf which is still as long as no wind blows. If a wind comes up the leaf flutters. The fluttering is due to the wind -- the 'fluttering' is due to those sense impressions; the mind follows them. If it doesn't follow them, it doesn't 'flutter.' If we know fully the true nature of sense impressions we will be unmoved.
Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind. So we must train the mind to know those sense impressions, and not get lost in them. To make it peaceful. Just this is the aim of all this difficult practice we put ourselves through."

also,

"What is the mind? It is a phenomenon that is not body, not substantial, has no form, no shape, no colour, but, like a mirror, can clearly reflect objects."

[lightgiver]

Tantra teaches you that nothing is ugly or bad. Sex is definitely not bad as this was the cause of your birth. All those people who condemn sex condemn their parents and themselves. If sex is a sin, then you are born of sin. If sex is bad then you are bad. Husband and wife - a man and a woman have sex and as a result the man’s semen is released in the woman’s body. The meeting of the sperm and the ovum is the beginning of a new life, a new baby. Every saint and every sinner has got a physical body because of sex. How can one condemn sex? Our ancient seers respected life, and through their exploration Tantra was born. Tantra uses everything in its practice and talks about inclusion of food, sex, sensual experiences, imagination and mental creativity as media for the enhancement of spiritual life. If everything has come from a divine source, then how can anything be ugly? Many religious practitioners are waging a constant war and fighting against their own mind and body, whereas Tantra talks about acceptance and moving into the sensual materialistic world with a divine attitude, thus transiting through it smoothly. When you do not understand the body and the mind, then copulation is simply sex, but if you have an understanding of your body and mind, then the meeting of a man and a woman is not just sex - then the word in Sanskrit is ‘maithuna’. Maithuna means sex as a tool of not just seminal release and physical intimacy, but a ladder to evolve spiritually.
Vajroli is the practice included in maithuna or yogic intercourse. Through the practice of vajroli, sexual energy, hormones and secretions are re-assimilated in the body. Its outcome is the union of the negative and positive poles of energy within the body. Vajroli is a mudra to be practiced by men and sahjoli by women; these mudras help to understand the muscular movements of the sexual organs so that one understands clearly what happens from the time of arousal to the time of ejaculation. The purpose of this is to save the bindu, that is the semen, even in maithuna the objective is to use the body for a higher purpose even in sex, and definitely in spiritual practices. Vajra means ‘thunderbolt’ or ‘lightning’. It is also the name of Lord Indra’s weapon and means ‘the mighty one’. In this context vajra refers to the vajra nadi which governs the uro-genital system. It is the second innermost layer of the sushumna nadi. Vajra nadi is the energy flow within the spine and governs the sexual systems of the body. In mundane life it is responsible for sexual behaviour and this aspect has been termed called ‘libido’ by Dr. Freud, and as ‘orgone’ by Dr. Reich. In tantric sadhana this energy is not suppressed but is awakened and redirected. OH mudras (vajroli, sahajoli and amaroli) are those which specifically sublimate sexual energy into ojas (vitality) and kundalini shakti.
According to the Shatkarma Sangraha there are seven practices in vajroli. This involves years of preparation which starts with the simple contraction of the uro-genital muscles, and later on the sucking up of liquids. Only after the sixth practice is perfected can the seventh be successfully attempted by the yogi. By and large, people have come to believe that these practices are unnatural or unhealthy. Many commentators of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika avoid discussing these slokas, dismissing them as obscene practices indulged in by low-caste tantrics. Obviously they have an incorrect understanding of the practice. People have concocted the notion that spiritual life is different from mundane life, and because of past religious conditioning the physical body has become perverted. These people must realize that spiritual life is neither anti-sex nor asexual, and sexual life is neither anti-spiritual nor aspiritual.
Of course celibacy has its own rewards, but according to tantra it should arise spontaneously and not out of suppression. Suppression of sex will give rise to diseases in the mind and body. The sexual urges will be strong and if the control mechanism is just repression, then the urges will win and the person will sink deep into guilt. No wonder you find most sadhus so sad and dejected. Family life is a way of growing and understanding about life and its day to day practice. Spiritual life means developing awareness by applying the higher mind to the experiences of the body. Whatever we do should be a means to creating yoga in our being. Why should sexual life be excluded? According to this sloka, sexual life can be elevated from the sensual to the spiritual plane if it is practiced in a particular way, and for this vajroli mudra has been prescribed.
A person who has perfect control of the body and mind is a yogi in every situation. A person who gorges on food, is just as ‘obscene’ as a person who indulges in uncontrolled sexual acts. Sexual life has three purposes, and this should be understood. For the tamasic person, it is progeny; for the rajasic person, it is pleasure; for a satwic person, it is enlightenment.
The desire to release semen is an instinctive urge experienced throughout nature and not only by humans. Therefore, there should be no guilt or shame associated with it. Animal consciousness is not the end stage in the evolutionary destiny of a human being. Man’s potential for ‘bliss’ can be extended beyond the momentary experience which accompanies the release of semen. Semen and ova contain evolutionary potential and if these can be controlled, then not only the body but also the mind can be controlled.
Nature has provided the mechanism of seminal release, but although it is generally not known, nature has also provided a means to control this mechanism through various practices of hatha yoga. If the release of semen can be controlled, a new range of experience dawns. Those experiences are also endowed by nature, even if only a few people have gained them. Therefore the techniques should not be considered against the natural order.
Although medical science has generally failed to acknowledge the fact, uncontrolled release of semen throughout life does contribute to premature deterioration of the vital capacities of the brain, overburdens the heart and depletes the nervous system. Actually it is a matter of degree and there is no limit to perfection. Many men die prematurely of physical and mental exhaustion with their dreams unfulfilled and their goals unattained. However, if the process of seminal release can be arrested, so that energy and spermatozoa do not escape through the regenerative organ, but are redirected upwards into the higher brain centres, then a greater awakening can take place; a greater vision can be realized, and a greater vital power can be directed towards accomplishments in life.
According to the sloka, if vajroli is well practised, even in an otherwise free lifestyle, that yogi’s attainments in life will be greater, and a greater source of vital and mental power becomes available to him. A few great yogis and masters had these experiences and have therefore instructed their disciples in the vajroli mudra - a hatha yoga technique.
In mundane life, the climax of sexual experience is the one time when the mind becomes completely void of its own accord, and consciousness beyond the body can be glimpsed. However, that experience is short-lived because the energy is expressed through the lower energy centres. This energy which is normally lost can be used to awaken the dormant power of kundalini in the mooladhara. If the sperm can be withheld - the energy and not the sperm, as many have misunderstood - the energy can be channelized through the sushumna nadi and the central nervous system, to the dormant areas of the brain and to the sleeping consciousness.
The sex act is the one means to totally concentrate and captivate the mind, but in tantra it should not be the ordinary experience; the experience has to be more than a gross or sensual one. Awareness and control have to be developed. The senses have to be developed. The senses have to be utilized, but only as the means of awakening the higher consciousness, not the animal consciousness, and for this vajroli mudra and various tantric rituals are to be perfected.
Vajroli mudra is an important practice today in kali yuga when man’s ability and need to express himself in the material and sensual world is predominating. We have to act in the external world and simultaneously develop inner awareness. The purpose of life should be to attain a deeper and more fulfilling experience beyond the empirical sensory experience alone.
Man has four basic desires known as purushartha the first of which is kama or sensual gratification, others being dharma, arth and mokhsha. This needs to be fulfilled to a certain extent but should not pull the consciousness down. It should be a means to accomplish a greater result.
Every action, including the sex act, should be directed towards realizing the truth of existence. Then you are living a spiritual life. Spiritual life does not depend on living up to puritanical morality. If you can follow such puritanical ideals and attain enlightenment, then practice them, but do not condemn others who cannot. The moment you create rigid ideals that the spiritual path has to be ‘like this’ and cannot be ‘like that’ you are limiting your own ability to have a total experience.
Spiritual unfoldment is the process of evolution. It can happen slowly through millions of years as the process of nature, or it can be accelerated through the practices of yoga. Vajroli mudra accelerates this rate of evolution. Practice of vajroli regulates the entire sexual system. Testosterone level and sperm production are influenced. Even if the yogi is a householder, he does not lose the semen. Therefore, whether one has sexual interactions or not, vajroli should be practised. The vajroli mudra can be learnt from a master, as it is very delicate methodology thus the details are not being given here for now. The deeper understanding of muscles in your genitals areas is needed and also the ability to differentiate the muscles which are used for urination and for seminal release have to be understood very deeply before you are given the method to practice. So gently and gradually as you grow in your practice, the vajroli mudra gets mastered and then you have the know how to protect your body from early degeneration and depletion of Ojas the life force