Tao Zen Dan Tien Tan Tien

[redcatherine]

http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers/The%20Tan%20Tien_Hara%20Line.html

This is an interesting article that approaches yogic energy centres in another way .

I see the energy body components like this :
Female Caput : Third Eye Area
Male Girdle : Sacral Chakra Area
Balanced : Solar Plexus the union chamber of light and sound
Akashic : Silver Flame Heart Anu Chamber of Will and Emotion
Alpha Aperture : Below Base of Spine Os to allow energy in
Omega Aperture : Above the Spine Os to allow energy in
Down the Spine : Energy Conduit
Intra Chakral Column : Energy Conduit
Palms of Hands: Transmission Points to inhale or exhale energy
Soles of Feets :Transmission Points to inhale or exhale energy

so is
the male girdle is the Lower Tan Tien
the silver anu is the Dan Tien
and the omega aperture is the upper Tan Tien
by some accounts
but the female caput is the upper Tan Tien
by most accounts

The upper or third tan tien is in the head. It is directly analogous to the western "third eye" and correlates to the shen. Again, while most people describe the location as being between the eyebrows and/or the center of the forehead, this is misleading since it tends to draw attention to the front of the skull. The region is located in the center of the skull, as the lower tan tien is located in the center of the abdomen.

http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/tao_heal/bydchi21.html
and the alignment exercise on the link posted above
is not unlike work to open a vortex
within a different methodology ?

In Taoist Internal Alchemy
lower Tan Tien or "Elixir Field"
is known as the Cauldron,
he mystic "gathers, blends, and cooks"
his or her sexual, vital, and spiritual energies:
the first stage in the generation of an immortal spirit being.
equivalent to Western Alchemical "Philosopher's Stone"
or "Elixir of Youth".I
t may be associated with Tibetan Buddhism
centre  called the Wheel of Emanation.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Taoism/lower_Tan_Tien.htm

and a breathing technique to cleanse:
http://www.authentic-breathing.com/tan_tien_cleansing_breath.htm
http://www.redwingbooks.com/products/books/TanTieChiKun.cfm

[halfphased]

Thank you much.  I always love to add another dimension to my understanding of things.

However, what in the world are these chakras anyways?  Nevermind the many systems that have been devised to describe them.  

Am I correct in thinking that:

Ultimately there are no such things as chakras

the chakras are a belief structure that we use to interract with our precieved reality


If I am correct in this line of thinking then:

what is the thing that the chakras point towards?

How is it that the chakras are useful for us?



Hypothesis:
Chakras are imaginary centers that we assign certain areas of consciousness to, so that we may better manuver through consciousness.

We play our chakras like a flute in order to gain access to certain areas of consciousness

we are to our higher self  as  chakras are to consciousness


am I headed in the right direction?  
pointers are appreciated

muchas gracias

[redcatherine]

Am I correct in thinking that:
Ultimately there are no such things as chakras

...not really.They do exist they are the fundamental structure of the human energy body . If you dissect the human body you will not see them there with physical tools but if you look clairvoyantly they are there in jewel like splendour . I suppose it would be as difficult as proving that spirits exists ...most cannot see them either .

the chakras are a belief structure that we use to interract with our precieved reality

well ultimately all is an illusion

If I am correct in this line of thinking then: what is the thing that the chakras point towards?

self realization and spiritual development .

How is it that the chakras are useful for us?

The chakras  fill with pranic energy and move us along to the next stage in our development . We can advance this process by will , awareness , meditation , breathing and through love.

Hypothesis:Chakras are imaginary centers that we assign certain areas of consciousness to, so that we may better manuver through consciousness.We play our chakras like a flute in order to gain access to certain areas of consciousnesswe are to our higher self  as  chakras are to consciousness am I headed in the right direction?  pointers are appreciated

Because I can see chakras I am aware that they exist and cannot presume that i have imagined them as you do so I don't agree with your premise .                          

Peace .[/quote]

[halfphased]

Because I can see chakras I am aware that they exist and cannot presume that i have imagined them as you do so I don't agree with your premise .

I also sense my energy centers, although I do not see them, and I do not question their reality in relation to our present experience, but rather as you said:

well ultimately all is an illusion

which is what I assume about everything, and the reason why I asked my questions.

So, if ultimately these chakras are an illusion, how is it that... well now I've gone and lost myself.  

How is it that the illusion points towards the Ultimate?  At some point do we blur the lines between illusion and the Ultimate where we have no need for chakras anymore?  

Yet, I am still not expressing the question that I really want to ask.

When I said that the chakras were a belief structure it was because if ultimately all is an illusion then at this present moment we are creating the illusion of chakras as we are creating the illusion of everything else that we can say exists in relation to us.  

When I say that ultimately there are no such things as chakras, I mean that chakras do not exist in an ultimately real sense although they may exist on this intersubjective level of reality.

So, yes, chakras are energy centers, and we fill them with prana, but why did we create a reality where we have chakras that need prana filling?

I believe I am lost on some wild tangent.  I made a wrong turn at Albaturkey and was sucked into a black hole.  I jumped too deep into the existential whirlpool and now I will rest calmly at the poolside.

Thanks for the ride
and peace as always

[redcatherine]

So, yes, chakras are energy centers, and we fill them with prana, but why did we create a reality where we have chakras that need prana filling?

because we like to look at pretty colours ???lol  
peace to you too
i laughed myself silly at your post
well done !