[twinaircant]

In the meditation handbook, it says if you look at the tip of your nose, it will stimulate the pineal and pituatory gland and indeed i can feel this happening when i do this. I have done a little research on the subject but not too much. I have heard that at a young age the pineal gland fills with hard calcium deposits due to it being un-used.

My question is what exactly do these glands do? they are linked with ESP.. but what kind of ESP? I mean.. things like clairaudience, clairsentience, and clairvoyance are linked with energy centres and not necessarily these glands. Has Robert Bruce written any good articles on this?

[DuePew]

I don't know if Robert has written something about the pineal gland, but there is an article about Basic Brain Anatomy and Theory of Consciousness in the website:
http://www.astraldynamics.com/search.as ... enceID=220

As to the pineal gland, it is known that it contains photoreceptors (light receptors), it works as an eye in some reptiles, and it is located in an area of the brain (in higher mammals) that receives no light, giving the idea that it's for detecting a type of light that we are not detecting with our 'regular' eyes. Of course, this is in the area of metaphysics.

As to the pituitary gland:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituitary_gland
"The pituitary gland secretes hormones regulating homeostasis, including trophic hormones that stimulate other endocrine glands. It is functionally connected to the hypothalamus by the median eminence." In other words the pituitary gland controls all other glands and regulates things like growth and hormonal balance.

[twinaircant]

ok thanks for the links and the good summary

I suppose the pineal gland is pretty much what allows for clairvoyance then?

I heard that when both the pineal and pituitary are working together that is when amazing things happen.. i guess the pitutiary sends the chemicals to the pineal gland that it needs to function on a psychic level.

[twinaircant]

i just finished reading up on the NEW energy ways.. which work really well.

i was thinking of using the techniques to stimulate and feed energy to these glands.

[CedssypeEdids]

Just to remind you - manipulating these glands means to manipulate your brain and the basic functioning of your nerve system. At the very least please be careful and gentle.

In Qi/Nei Gong the brain is considered as very sensitive and training with a master seen as requirement. Whether this is really necessary or just a traditional precaution I don't know. I however know that special care should be taken in any case.

So - take good care.

Oliver

[CedssypeEdids]

PS - in the book "Qigong Meditation: Embryonic Breathing" Dr Yang describes a technique which involves at least one if not both glands. The technique involves finding the "Yin Spiritual Center" of the "Yang Upper Dantien" and centering its energies in these points. Same goes for centering the energies of the "Yang Energy Center" in the "Yin Lower Dantien". It is an energy storage practice explained in detail in there. IIRC he also explains about these glands.

Oliver

[twinaircant]

interesting. I do practice meditation regularly along with qigong techniques and most of my working knowledge is founded on ancient chinese philosophy

I read ages ago that to stimulate these glands you should visualise a feather tickling them, which funnily enough is how the NEW energy ways work and this was something i read about 7 years ago..

The chinese believe that consciousness is produced by the interplay of energy, and the experienced gurus are able to send their consciousness and center it in the dantien, the heart or the head (which is something i am now able to do). The consciousness comes from 2 or more chakras working together.

I haven't experimented too much with AP/OBE.. but RB says something about the egyptians believing 3 bodies? could someone provide a link explaining this more clearly? It sounds a bit complicated.. i mean what is the difference between an astral body and an etheric body? it seems silly that we would have an astral body overlaying the etheric as well as the physical, with a conscious awareness component over the top.

I think its much simpler.. like there is just one metaphysical body, and one physical body. The metaphysical is conscious (with the soul existing within the conscious awareness) and operates in the physical realm using the physical body as a hardware platform.

[CedssypeEdids]

The chinese believe that consciousness is produced by the interplay of energy, and the experienced gurus are able to send their consciousness and center it in the dantien, the heart or the head (which is something i am now able to do). The consciousness comes from 2 or more chakras working together.

Centering the mind into one of three Dantiens - brain/Upper Dantien, heart/Middle Tantien, center of abdomen/Lower Dantien is not necessarily the domain of a master. It is a quality that comes with the ongoing cleaning of the body's pathways and the ability to be aware of these centers and focussing the mind/awareness there. Centering in the heart or into the Lower Dantien are common techniques for quieting the "monkey mind" and helping in meditation.

It sounds a bit complicated.. i mean what is the difference between an astral body and an etheric body? it seems silly that we would have an astral body overlaying the etheric as well as the physical, with a conscious awareness component over the top.

I think its much simpler.. like there is just one metaphysical body, and one physical body. The metaphysical is conscious (with the soul existing within the conscious awareness) and operates in the physical realm using the physical body as a hardware platform.

Actually Robert simplifies this for the explaining astral projection. In my Taoist school of thought we have several energy bodies as a "working hypothesis", each working at a different vibration/energy frequency:

The densest one is the physical body. Physical matter being dense, "frozen" energy.

Then follows the etheric body, the energetic template of the physical body - you could say the control of the physical body. Here usually energy work takes place.

Then follows the emotional body, which creates the normal day-to-day emotions and thoughts related to them.

Then follows the mental body which relates to mental patterns and more abstract thought.

Then follows the psychic body, which relates to the more subtle energies that interconnect us and our senses of the spirit world.

Then follows the karmic/causal body, which stores our life's experiences and our continuity between lives.

Beyond that lies the body of individuality which can be attained through clearing up the issues of the first six bodies, therefore freeing the true self by abolishing the overriding urges of the ego in this life. This is the basis of Taoist spirit immortality and enlightenment - manifesting the True Self and reattaining permanent contact to Universal Consciousness and Oneness.

Beyond this lies the energy body of the Tao, where you attain unity with the Universe itself, and you can chose to remerge with it.

Each of these bodies is bigger than the former one - the etheric body being the first layer of the auric field that can be seen surrounding us, and the body of the Tao being the whole Universe.

See for example "Relaxing Into Being" by Robert Bruce or "A Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine: Energy Healing and Spiritual Transformation" by Richard Gerber which subscribe to this concept of the energy body.

Hermetic magic seems to subscribe to the concept of physical, etheric, emotional and mental, where you can use the two latter to project into the astral and mental planes, at least "Initiation into Hermetics" by Franz Bardon describes it this way.

Oliver

[twinaircant]

thanks Oliver.. I have been looking for that information everywhere.. I am pretty much self-taught when it comes to spirituality.. what can i say i live in a remote area where my only teacher is the internet.

I still have a lot of reading to catch up on... I agree with almost all of RB's work i have read so far

I will have to start venturing into AP's.. there seems to be a lot of stuff there im missing out on. I have AP'd a few times but my experiences haven't been very pleasant.

I would have to say though that through my own personal experiences I have found the taoist/buddhist/far-east teachings to be the most correct in terms of everything, and that the 7 hermetic principles are also something true and factual about the nature of this reality.

[CedssypeEdids]

thanks Oliver.. I have been looking for that information everywhere.. I am pretty much self-taught when it comes to spirituality.. what can i say i live in a remote area where my only teacher is the internet.

Yes, I can relate.

It is interesting to compare different schools and their knowledge if you get the chance. For example, while Zen has not very much energy work, its Chinese origin of Chan has it, and Taoism and Chan Buddhism intersect and have learned from each other. But if you research into Zen more, you find that even some Zen masters teach the technique of centering into the Lower Tantien, IIRC they call it Hara.

Different ideas relate to lost, gained, regained and differently interpreted concepts, but like you I like the Eastern ideas. In the end, however, I will rely only on what my intuition and guidance brings me to. Uncovering this guidance and heeding it is part of spiritual progress, no philosophy can replace this, at least this is my belief.

Take good care,
Oliver

[twinaircant]

well said

what you were saying before about centering the yin and yang into 2 separate storage points?

there is a qigong master who can heal people and create fire using chi, when asked how he did it, he said "i send the yang here up, and the yin here down (pointing both times at stomach), then it collides and i send the energy through my arm into the patient".

One of the techniques buddha used to reach enlightenment was to focus on the breath in the hara, noticing the gap between the two pauses.. If you take a breath in, there is a high pause point, when you breath out, there is a low pause point. Could these two points be the spots to store these seperate energies? so that they may be used in such a way?

[CedssypeEdids]

Well, I think any to "technical" approach to enlightenment - like approach X combined with approach Y will produce enlightenment when energy is stored at Z to produce A, B, C... - is based in a world used to mechanistic thinking. And people looking for magical solutions to their problems. (Defining magical in this context as "inexplainable and mechanistic A=>B solution trying to short-circuit around the real problem")

Or formulated differently: I'm highly skeptical of those explanations to enlightenment.

Many different techniques may prove as a roadway to noticing the workings of the mind and obtaining insight into consciousness, but until you have tried the technique you cannot say what it really does. Theory is nice and good, but usually not very helpful in these manners or misleading.

I cannot say what the Buddha found. Where is that described, BTW? In one of the writings about the Buddha's life? I find the formulation you cited very ambiguous and not helpful - the gap between the two pauses - that would logically be the actual breath... Usually we cannot say what these descriptions mean without a teacher who has been thoroughly initiated into such ideas with greater detail, all else is guesswork IMO.

Oliver

[twinaircant]

I found that out here:
http://meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/tec ... tantra.htm

its the first technique of the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, there is a description about Buddha using it. and what i was describing about the pauses.

[CedssypeEdids]

I found that out here:
http://meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/tec ... tantra.htm

its the first technique of the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, there is a description about Buddha using it. and what i was describing about the pauses.

I read the explanation and I don't think it has anything to do with the technique I described. The explanation seems to be very clear on the site, which just tries to observe the moment of "no-breath". This is a pure awareness/observation exercise, while the "Embryonic breathing" tries to manipulate energy and move it to certain places and condense it.

Have you tried the technique you mentioned and what have you found?

Oliver

[twinaircant]

I have only breifly tried it, I found that the pauses or points of 'no-breath' seem to change on how fast you are breathing/pulse-rate. When i focused on the breath in the dantien to begin with the points seemed far apart, but as i got deeper, they seemed closer.
It was quite an eye-opening experience because i noticed something with it.. and that is the energy i draw into the dantien while inhaling, i could feel energy being drawn in from outside of me when the breath hadn't yet reached the dantien - this of course doesn't mean i can stop breathing because the amount i draw through the stomach isn't quite enough to do that.

[CedssypeEdids]

I think you are focussing too much on energy here. From reading the page you gave I think the exercise is about watching what happens to your mind/awareness between breaths, not where the energy goes. The edge between existence and non-existence.

Maybe this exercise can teach you to find those gaps in your awareness where you normally are unaware and reopen them for a deeper experience. Or maybe there is a way to unravel yourself from the tight binding your awareness has on your thoughts by exploring the edges of in and out breath.

Oliver

[bunkalapa]

I've actually spontaneously remembered to focus on the gaps at the crest and trough of the breath cycle during meditation lately. I used to do that because of its effectiveness. I artificially stretch out and smooth the reversal process of the wind direction. I first tried it years ago after procuring "The Secret of the Golden Flower," to good effect, but forgot all about it until recently. I'm so glad I remembered.

It really helps focus the mind too and this adds to the momentum. That is, if a lowered brainwave frequency is what you're going for.

[twinaircant]

I'm not sure what you mean Korpo.. what is supposed to happen to my awareness between breaths? other than it being placed on that region of my body?

I have found a good place nearby that teaches Qigong, Tai Chi and some other things.. finally

One thing I am having trouble with at the moment is moving the storage energy up into the other storage areas. I think my hara is overfull if that is possible. I exercise very regularly and no matter how much I do.. the belly is always there and its not fat either.. its like my inner organs have become much more well-developed. I would like to move the energy up into the other storage area's but am finding it difficult. Any suggestions?

[DuePew]

I think my hara is overfull if that is possible. I exercise very regularly and no matter how much I do.. the belly is always there and its not fat either.. its like my inner organs have become much more well-developed. I would like to move the energy up into the other storage area's but am finding it difficult. Any suggestions?

I believe the prevailing idea is that once an energy storage center becomes full the energy naturally goes up to the next center. I do hope you realize that the physical size of the physical belly doesn't really have to do with the storage capacity of an energy storage center (can we call it dantien or tantien? I'm tired of typing 'energy storage center') and that energy work is supposed to increase the storage capacity of such center. Anyway, if you practice NEW regularly it naturally facilitates the flow of energy to go where it needs to go. Also, Aunt Clair has a clearing exercise that opens up all the channels so that you can then raise energy. It should be either in the Energy Work section or in the Mysticism section.

[twinaircant]

Ok, thanks traveller