Energy and its manipulation

leftrightleftrightleft · #21 2nd November 2009, 02:01 AM

i am a christian and i believe energy is very important. i view the holy spirit as the "energy" that many people always speak of. i think energy is probably the most tangible link between science and faith: it is something detected by science, it seems to hold everything together, yet it is poorly understood and difficult to define.

there are lots of interesting books out there linking science and faith (not necessarily christian faith, but faith nonetheless) using science to explain things like prayer, meditation, and death.

yogis in india are also very interesting. they are said to be able to manipulate energy to the point where they no longer have to eat because they can metabolize their own energy. they also say they don't have to sleep because they can draw on the energy that permeates the universe.

i don't think this belief in an energy is un-christian, i just think they're using the holy spirit in different ways and calling it by different names.

another interesting book called "life after death" by anthony peake is an interesting "out there" exploration into energies and the supernatural using quantum physics and other scientific (or semi-scientific) methods.

i believe prayer is a way of sending positive energies to other people.
i believe god is an energy we can't understand that binds the universe together.

dewaddict84 · #22 5th November 2009, 08:19 PM

Working with energy opens you up to evil spirits? Thats a new one on me.

Gordon Freeman can vouch for it.

vajradhara · #23 5th November 2009, 09:51 PM

Namaste Zoness,

thank you for the post.

Originally Posted by Zoness

I am curious if there is anyone else here who manipulates energy (Ki, Qi Gong, Psi, Reiki) for religious purposes or personal improvement.

yes, there are... besides you and i even

Being a former Shaman, energy was very intrinsic for my work and it was also very important for my good friend (Vanguard18, you may remember him ).

may i ask which tradition you adhered to? i practiced a modern form of Shamanism which is native to the Cherokee tribe of North American First People for 4 or 5 years when i was a much younger person

Manipulating energy has a lot of practical use as well. Being a sickly college student, a few minutes a day of Falun Gong (my energy art) helps me clear my mind, stay focused and keep me awake longer. It also has practical use in martial arts, allowing you to channel energy into your blows if you are practical at calling it up quickly. So I pose the following questions:

What is your religion?

this is a tricky one. by and large i adhere to a particular school of Buddha Dharma, the Vajrayana as found in Tibet in particular however my practice also includes the Northern Complete Reality School of Taoism. for the most part on forums such as these i self identify as a Buddhist when picking avatars.

If you manipulate energy, do you stick to a specific art? If you combine arts, why do you do that? Not seeking posts from non-manipulators, although inquiries are welcome.

no, i do not remain within one traditions practice. the simple truth of the matter is that meditation is a foundational practice of nearly every religious tradition (some more overtly than others, to be sure) and i have found that the symbol set used by the Vajrayana and Northern Complete Reality School match to a startling degree.

i suppose we could talk about the methods and such but Taoist spiritual alchemy is spoken in terms which are nearly impenetrable to the uninitiated and the Vajrayana tantras are similar in that regard. given that i prefer to leave aside "official" jargon and just relate it in a manner which makes sense to me.. sometimes it makes sense to someone else too

Is moving energy compatible with your religion; is it discouraged or encouraged or is there no definite stance?

it is, in many respects, a fundamental aspect of the teachings perhaps more explicitly elucidated in the main canon of Tao rather than Buddha Dharma, but this is more dependent upon the school of Buddha Dharma than anything else.

metta,

~v

Zoness · #24 9th November 2009, 11:51 PM

Good responses from you all! I figured this thread had died

I will respond to vajradhara first since this seems to be the most direct response to the OP.

Originally Posted by vajradhara

yes, there are... besides you and i even

A comforting fact to me.

may i ask which tradition you adhered to? i practiced a modern form of Shamanism which is native to the Cherokee tribe of North American First People for 4 or 5 years when i was a much younger person

Being of nearly pure Nordic and partial Saami origin, I practice a variant of Shamanism that was visible in those areas of Sweden, Finland etc. It is not exactly as formal as complete Norse religion, in fact the Gods overall have very little to do with my work but most of my influences have been from that region and I work a little bit with runes. However, there is a lot of eastern thought that interests me as well. Sorry that's kind of an ultra-vague rundown.

this is a tricky one. by and large i adhere to a particular school of Buddha Dharma, the Vajrayana as found in Tibet in particular however my practice also includes the Northern Complete Reality School of Taoism. for the most part on forums such as these i self identify as a Buddhist when picking avatars.

Very interesting, I am overall not too familiar with the sect...time for some reading!

no, i do not remain within one traditions practice. the simple truth of the matter is that meditation is a foundational practice of nearly every religious tradition (some more overtly than others, to be sure) and i have found that the symbol set used by the Vajrayana and Northern Complete Reality School match to a startling degree.

i suppose we could talk about the methods and such but Taoist spiritual alchemy is spoken in terms which are nearly impenetrable to the uninitiated and the Vajrayana tantras are similar in that regard. given that i prefer to leave aside "official" jargon and just relate it in a manner which makes sense to me.. sometimes it makes sense to someone else too

it is, in many respects, a fundamental aspect of the teachings perhaps more explicitly elucidated in the main canon of Tao rather than Buddha Dharma, but this is more dependent upon the school of Buddha Dharma than anything else.

metta,

~v

Interesting...I am only of vague familiarity with Tao but that is also a school of thought that interests me, again more research to do. Thank you for your detailed response.

vajradhara · #25 26th November 2009, 01:17 AM

Namaste Zoness,

thank you for the post.

Originally Posted by Zoness

Good responses from you all! I figured this thread had died

I will respond to vajradhara first since this seems to be the most direct response to the OP.

A comforting fact to me.

well.. my time is certainly infrequently spent on chat forums and after the changes here i've been less inclined to stop by in a regular manner. my apologies for the tardy reply

Being of nearly pure Nordic and partial Saami origin, I practice a variant of Shamanism that was visible in those areas of Sweden, Finland etc. It is not exactly as formal as complete Norse religion, in fact the Gods overall have very little to do with my work but most of my influences have been from that region and I work a little bit with runes. However, there is a lot of eastern thought that interests me as well. Sorry that's kind of an ultra-vague rundown.

no worries, i understand the difficulty in trying to relate one symbol set into another in a manner which someone else, using a completely other symbol set, could understand

i had a partner, as i do now, for my work, though previously it was male and now it is female (that has varying degrees of importance depending on if one is speaking of Buddhist Vajrayana Tantra or Taoist spiritual alchemy) which generally brings a higher degree of energy into play than one being is able to generate on their own.

Very interesting, I am overall not too familiar with the sect...time for some reading!

there are several good texts which are available in English for my schools, depending on your interest level i.e. from an academic point of view or a practiceinor point of view. i would suggest "Secret of the Vajra World" for an overview of Vajrayana Tantric Buddhism by Reginald Ray and "The Jade Emperors Mind Seal Classic" or "Awakening to the Tao" for the Complete Reality School of Tao.

enjoy your research!

metta,

~v