Center-Based Shen Theory
Thread #26252
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Post #26252
Title - more about shifting me-ness (long post)
Posted by Trunk on September 4, 2004
Ok, here's a blab about "shifting me-ness", when the "I consciousness" moves down lower, promoting that - and related issues.
Just putting it here 'cause the first thread is scrolling pretty low now.
The two techniquey things that help with that, that I've found, are Yi Swallows
Qi, and Kidney-1 Breathing.
One of the general ideas is to have the lower tan tien exercise its own volition.
I mean, part of being conscious is acting: volition. The lower tan tien needs to be conscious, and act - as itself. Not like, "I, up here", am shifting the energy around "down there".
Its "I, the lower tan tien", consciously, am doing such & such. Part of this is assisting in the alchemy that
ignites consciousness, and part of this is finding what the ltt (lower tan tien) can do, what it does naturally, what it likes to do.
There are exercises and practices and so on, but then beyond that, we get into lifestyle.... and
I'll probably rant on about that at the latter section of the post.
stacked consciousness,
acting together, sort of.
Kidney-1 Breathing
One of the things that the ltt can do is breathe. Most of the time, its the upper consciousness that controls breathing through volition - even when we breathe deeply: its sort of "breathing down into there".
K1-breathing helps to reverse that. Through sustained K1-breathing
"me-ness" attention is really just in the ltt and down: legs, feet, earth.
Sure, you start out "up here", but then you just engage the lower tan tien and use that to breathe in from your K1's... almost feels as if your K1's were nostrils, drawing in qi.
After a while of sustaining that, sometimes, me-ness is at the ltt. Its shifted away from the upper centers, which can be kind of freaky at first, kind of a little panicky almost.
The upper parts of yourself that usually feel like "i", don't. But the lower part, now feels "i" and the upper ones are out of the picture 'cause attn is just ltt and down.
Breathing (in from the nostrils and/or mouth) just sort of happens incidentally, from the mechanics of the ltt expanding and contracting (and that can be a little freaky, too, like "i forgot to breathe!", but the air is really going in, the sensation is just different), but the volition is really
simply to draw in from K1's.
So, K1-breathing is a technique that can help shift the me-ness stuff to the ltt.
And I've found that, alchemically, all sorts of things that I was trying to get to happen, before, once me-ness shifts down, once the ltt gets it
(is conscious as "i") - the alchemy just happens.
Just happens.
Another benefit of K1-breathing is that the energy of the earth integrates with the ltt, and
the energy of the earth anchors consciousness... it provides a gravity that allows consciousness (and all sorts of other alchemical goodies from above) to go into the lower tan tien.
The ltt has a gravity, and stuff "falls" into it, or is "swallowed" into it.
Native American totem pole
Yi Swallows Qi
This practice is so simple, and does so much, I'm amazed - and a little embarrassed that
I just stumbled onto it.
But, you walk around enough, I guess, and you end up stumbling into lots of different things.
Ok, so this opens up the core channel, ignites the consciousness of the lower tan tien, and the lower tan tien learns to grasp, or swallow, stuff from above - be it from within the body (like heart energy, various other upper energies, or i-consciousness at
least to some extent) or from outside of the body (star, moon energies, "swallowing heaven", like that).
The "ignition of the consciousness of the ltt" (at least for me) doesn't happen just the first practice time you do this, but you've got to work with it a while - 'till the alchemy of the ltt occurs.
And, at first, its definitely "me, up here" moving the qi gradually down. But, gradually, the lower centers engage volition of receiving the energies from above and
of "swallowing" those energies into the centers.
Then, some time, I go to do the practice and the pathway is just there and (surprise) the lower tan tien just - whoosh - draws the energies in itself.
contemporary art
So, while this isn't exactly what we were talking about before (sustained shift of me-ness down to the lower belly), its very related: The lower tan tien is
conscious, and acts consciously (is the center from which volition occurs).
Shen Theory
I think all of this is very intimate with what we've been calling "shen theory" (that there are multiple consciousnesses in a single body).
Part of that... the idea has got to be there that the shens should develop, mature... have an increasing sense of i-ness, be able to act as themselves, with increasing skill and effectiveness.
Otherwise its just one "shen" (which ever part of you feels like "i") "running" (or bullying) the other shen, while the other shen are sort of consciousness-dormant (but still
definitely influencing activity!).
Other things that the LTT digs doin'
- Anything that works the lower body. Squats (yeah-yeah,
I know I'm rantin' on about stuff I've been excited 'bout lately), leg work, & so on.
A lot of the guys from DragonDoor.com, Pavel's team, are into "pistols" (one-legged squats), every so often, throughout the day.
Like, you're at the office, you take a minute or two, and crank one or more out, then go back to your desk job.
Pistols are only achievable with special instructions, lots of tips & stuff, on how to get it to work. (and
I'm too old to be doin that shit, but maybe you young whipper-snappers 'd dig it.)
(WEBMASTER's NOTE: Dealing with the Force.)
- Earth work. A conscious connection (ltt & earth sharing consciousness).
Diggin' dirt. Diggin' ditches. Gardening, & stuff. This brings me to...
Lifestyle
Gettin up, reading e-mail, web-surfing, jumpin' in the car goin' on the freeway, land at your indoor job, sit at a desk, maybe walk around some, all day, then back in the car, on the road, back to house, food, tv, computer, sleep.
Maybe one or two hours of concentrated practice in the a.m. and/or p.m. but total earth-disconnect the rest of the time.
Ugh!, modern life! Brings up too much to type about, now, as I've already written plenty.
cheers,
Trunk
Reply #26254
Title - Re: more about shifting me-ness (long post)
Posted by Simon V. on September 5, 2004
This is great stuff, which reminds me of information I've encountered both from live instruction and in my reading, which is the idea of "having the chakras spin with their own energy" (rather than manipulating or activating them from the standpoint of other centres type thing) and the idea of "shifting your consciousness fully to the chakra", which I believe is directly related to the former idea.
I don't think the intention of the instruction I've encountered is that it is taboo to activate centres from other centres, just that it is best to learn to really be able to reside clearly, to have the ability to be centred clearly, in a given centre.
This makes me think of Italian cooking, where they like to have a dish, usually a pasta dish, where you only use basil, or oregano, etc., which, I've found, then gives you, as a cook, a clear sense of what that herb does by itself for dish.
I feel you're right to say that it can initially be panicky stuff (shifting the "I" around), and that this is also why you are right to emphasize the healthy lifestyle, groundedness aspect of things.
There's no rush; there's plenty of time to bring our intellects along to observe and assimilate, to thoroughly digest new ways of experiencing, making such things part of our possible repertoire of experiences as opposed to "big wow", swallow a few hits of acid and then come down and go to work with a freaked out frown type experiences.
Perhaps this is the product of getting older, but I like the idea of being solid, having a clear, sane foundation, like the following Buddhist image of what stable mindfulness is like: Stable mindfulness is heavy, firm, and powerful, like an elephant walking through the jungle.
Reply #26258
Title - shifting me-ness, life-activities native to...
Posted by Trunk on September 5, 2004
Your first couple of paragraphs really describe directly what I've been experiencing with this (maybe better than
I've been able to say myself,
dang!). Curious as to what reading reference you've seen that in (title, author, isbn?).
Appetizing cooking analogy, too.
s> I feel you're right to say that it can initially be panicky stuff (shifting the "I" around), and that this is also why you are right to emphasize the healthy lifestyle, groundedness aspect of things. >
That's actually not the angle that brings me to groundedness, here.
I find that, though the upper center/s panic a little when me-ness goes solely to the lower center, that there is not the kind of sustained disorder that often results from "out there" experiences.
Quite the opposite, ime. As a result of the practice the lower center becomes more
conscious, and so I feel more rooted, engaged, in communication with, my lower center.
As a result, this is - quite naturally - leading me to be more in touch with what nurtures my lower center, know more clearly what it likes to do, what it resonates with.
What life-activities are native to the lower center. All of the stuff of the
information age: nothin', zero engagement of the lower center. But the lower center resonates with the earth;
I find that there's a "sharing of consciousness" with the earth that I hadn't felt in quite this way before.
I'm inclined to garden more. So, the grounded lifestyle is not a preventative against consciousness shifts, but a result of the lower center being more... conscious.
Also, I find that, though sometimes during practice me-ness does go solely 'down there', that the result
after practice is a more even distribution of consciousness top to bottom.
More aware of each centers needs, state, engagement or not. More awareness
in each center.
As I've mentioned before, I relate to shen-theory as center-based rather than organ-based.
(Especially, at least at first, to the centers that are more fully wired into the physical: lower ab., heart, head.)
(No disrespect meant toward anybody else's positive experiences with organ-based shen-theory work.)
Also as I said before, I think that a natural consequence of shen-theory is that each shen needs to become more and more conscious, more able
as itself, as fundamental requisites for maturing, as itself.
Now I'm just getting repetitive.
Though more could be said about this; I believe its really important.
Reply #26258
Title - Re: shifting me-ness, life-activities native to...
Posted by Simon V. on September 5, 2004
I have encountered the idea in a talk given by the Buddhist teacher Ole Nydahl; he was presenting like it was a standard item of Buddhist tantric lore. The reading reference was in a book by the writer and psychic Jane Roberts; I don't recall which book.
I definitely find also that working over time with the lower centre has resulted in increasing sense of security and connectedness.
The psychological discomfort felt initially is minor. Still, here is where it is good for a beginner to have a teacher, or at least good information, so that
minor discomforts etc. are not blown of out proportion.
Actually I often find that there can be an initial feeling of resistance or discomfort when activating a centre, which goes away and is increasingly replaced by positive sets of feelings/sensations with steady, calm concentration.
(End of Thread)
a Tibetan representation of enlightened form,
image #525 from HimalayanArt.org.
WEBMASTER'S NOTES:
The transposing of aesthetics, impulse, agenda from one center over another is the source of a lot of confusion and suffering. There's a process of disentangling that, which includes acknowledging the consciousness and volition of different centers, and initiating and maintaining dialogue, not collapsing back into transpositional bullying, stifle, over-ride.
Shen dialogue (in addition to alchemy) between center/s involves acceptance, communication, plans and follow-through such that relative harmony is maintained. Since inherent aesthetics, impulses, are different for different centers, sometimes there is compromise and deal-making: all the centers support one activity for a while (that mostly suits the aesthetic of one center), in exchange for another activity at another time.
It's almost classic that there's a difficult stage after spiritual initiation in which there's a disparity between the upper and lower centers. Upper centers gain easier (usually first) access to the transcendental states, which awaken the latent spiritual imperative to integrate fully with those states. Since the lower center/s typically lag in transcendental progression, and their path of alchemical integration is usually not skillfully known, and they're often left out of conversation in general, it's a common problematic situation. Obviously, a holistic, honestly realistic, gradual approach is recommended.
a pagoda in Nara, Japan.