On Jan 12, 2009, at 9:24 AM, raunchydog wrote:
If you don't practice Action Tantra, why don't you do it if you think it's a good technique? Do you practice something better than Action Tantra that gives you the experience of a "siddhi of mind stabilization through samadhi." If so, describe the technique you do to experience samadhi and effect your sadhana has on the quality of your life. I'm listening.
I generally practice "resting in the natural state" as my primary practice. If you read meditation research, it's what would generally be called "Open Presence" meditation. Depending on my actual condition at the time I may practice some brief shamatha or samadhi style meditation or perhaps some vipassana. Rather than having any rote formula, I've learned to gauge practice based how my mind, energy and body are at a given period.
Unfabricated meditation forms, as they form an easier bridge to non- meditation, i.e. the "practice" of just resting in natural suchness without a technique or support, are a seamless bridge to non- meditation during activity, at least for me. In formal retreat setting they form an easier bridge to spontaneous cultivation of Wisdom.
Action Tantra contains many excellent techniques, of which the previous are just examples from a particular tantra. Action Tantra will tend to appeal to certain types of people, I'm just not one of them. Having said that, it is beneficial IME to practice some form of ishta-devata meditation (in Hindu parlance) and of course TM is a ubiquitous form of mental devata worship common in Asia. I tend to gravitate towards less formal and simpler forms of ishta meditation, as that's just what appeals to me. What's helpful with yogic forms of ishta meditation in both the Hindu and Buddhist outer and inner tantras is how they continue to refine the mind in increasingly subtle and skillful ways. For example, a tantric meditator wouldn't just stop with 'the gap', s/he would learn once they'd transcended through thought they need to transcend prana, which does not spontaneously occur. And thus they could jump to deep absorption very quickly. The advantage in waking life is that negative emotions and patterns tend to disappear very quickly. The signs of meditative purification begin to arise. One is less encumbered in life. One begins to gain control of the pranas, of the mind and consciousness itself.
But don't mistake my post for "everyone should practice Action Tantra". It's more an appreciation than a recommendation. It's also fascinating to hear HHDL's experiential treatment of these tantras. It's a good read.
