[quote author=monotonic]You learn to use the tool through experience. After all it is the change in experience that is the reason for using the tool in the first place.[/quote]
Exactly, it seems to me that it’s the accumulated experience itself that convinced me such amounts of Pipe Breaths every day was necessary. As a most general example, I know, from experience, what the difference is when I do my self-prescribed amount of Pipe Breaths, versus not doing it.
I know, from experience, that it takes about 100 – 150 to get a decent night’s sleep.
I know, from experience, that without such amounts, I soon descend into an inactive state of depression and mountainous stress.
I know, From experience, that I can perform any task from a more relaxed and alert state of mind if Pipe Breathing precedes said task, and in fact, that’s why I do it, as a means to a means, not a means to an end.
I Read the other comments in this thread, and it introduced doubt in the experiences, and now I question the very validity of the experiences. I can only describe the feeling thusly:
[quote author=The Wave, Page 183, quoted originally from Dr. Schweitzer]The next day he came not, nor ever since. Only he sent an excuse at half past nine that morning, by reason of his great business, and promised to come at three in the afternoon, but never came, nor have I heard of him since;
whereupon I began to doubt of the whole matter.[/quote]
[quote author=monotonic]An in-depth discussion on this should start with the information in the EE FAQ thread[/quote]
So, I did what was suggested and read the discussion. I found that, amazingly, there were many confirmations that I was on the right track. Like, for example, the part about swallowing:
While doing the breathing try NOT to SWALLOW. Swallowing is the defence mechanism, or the distracting "outer barrier" of the emotional armouring. If you must swallow do it, but try to keep it to a minimum.
From: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,14410.0.html
I had actually figured that out just through my practice alone, without reading it first.
So that’s that, right?
There’s the answer to my doubts, I MUST be on the right track, right?
No, because there was just as much in that discussion to confirm the experiences as there were to render them invalid!
I’m not going to reproduce an exhaustive analysis, but here is a case in point:
From: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,14410.0.html
I want to suggest that you do not try to "jump the gun". I sorta suspect that if the Cs had thought that anyone needed to do more than the breathing and meditating right now, they would have said so.
I am struggling with this part, don’t the C’s also deliberately leave certain things out so that we study and come to our own conclusions?
Isn’t that the whole point?
Why shouldn’t I study the subject to my heart’s content, using other sources and practices (The predator asks)?
Keep in mind that, the instant any system is formulated for a positive purpose, there will be a whole raft of "thoughts" or "novel ideas" that just appear in the mind that seem to be useful, but can be due to either the predator's mind, programming, or thought wave transmission from STS sources with the intent of destroying your ability to actually make positive progress.
This is true, we also know that:
[quote author=The Wave, Page 232]There is a curious thing that I would like to note here in passing: It seems that the STS mode of manipulation includes synchronous events and or “signs and wonders”
before a choice is made to do something, which, in fact, weight the choice. STO seems to refrain altogether from any kind of overt contact or demonstration, leaving the will entirely free. But then, there is always the little confirmations
after the choice has been made and the action initiated.[/quote]
So, the question for me was, what kind was it? I am inclined towards the latter, though I might well be wrong, because I didn’t get anything “for free”
before my choice to pursue such studies, nothing, Natta.
The Cs did not suggest using Reiki with the breathing/meditation, or anything else. So please, for now, all of you just follow the program as it is.
I am really struggling over this…
ADDED: Clearing emotional blocks/burdens and karmic blocks/burdens is the prerequisite for doing anything else. Notice also that the main OTHER thing that is continued throughout this process is "knowledge input on a continuous basis."
Are other forms of Qi Gong not bodies of knowledge? Does one not gain knowledge from such practices (The predator scolds)?
Your ability to discern is based on being able to remove your blinders and increase your knowledge. The very fact that you still think that you can think with the way you think is evidence that you are not free of emotional blocks nor have you increased your knowledge.
So I should abandon all that I have learned from before? Really, this is not a rhetorical question, I am really asking!!
That’s the thing, when I came across Pipe Breathing, I didn’t challenge existing notions and assumptions, I didn’t think: “Oh, none of those other systems of self-cultivation work, I’ll start anew with the EE program.” I just sort of “assimilated” Pipe Breathing into an already existent body of research (illusions?) which I’ll just name “Qi Gong” for convenience.
I also suspect that it isn’t the experiences per say that are invalid, but rather the way that those experiences were appraised/understood?
[quote author=monotonic]So, you're using EE to help work on your illusions - assuming you are confronting your illusions. But even someone who wants to do that can't unless they have a way of discovering their illusions. This is one of the things the Network is good for - many things are plainly obvious to others that are hidden from you by your illusions.[/quote]
Well, if that is the case, then shouldn’t I formulate an exhaustive account of everything to do with the how I practice Pipe Breathing, the experiences therein, the observations thereof, and how it ties in with “Qi Gong”, then submit it to the network for close examination of the illusions?
I mean, the mere fact that I reacted negatively to some comments above attests to the fact that there are illusions lurking around in here.
But how does one even begin to write it all out when the practice is so idiosyncratic and complex, not to mention the fact that, for me, the wider topic involves a whole other language, Chinese, with a whole body of mystical material barely even registered by non-Chinese speakers?
I started a journal on this topic, is that at least a start?
I think that my first big mistake was thinking that I had “found something” worthy of sharing with others, and the second mistake was trying to manipulate others into validating same by not being fully forthcoming.
Thanks,
Robin
