«The Four Foundations of Attainment
(Pali: cattāro iddhipāda)
This way of practicing can hardly be called supplementary or basic. Rather, it is a very brief description, an outline or diagram, of the 37 Components of Awakening and the whole process of spiritual practice.

1. The Basis of Attainment through Determination (Desire)
   (Pali: chandiddhipado).
   Here it is quite simple - it is the beginning of spiritual practice. First, we fix the Dharma, or Teaching, in our minds. Then what we have studied and considered becomes intrinsic to us as Right View. As a result, we have the right tendency, or orientation, of consciousness-we express the determination to attain Enlightenment and Emancipation, we sincerely and consciously strive for self-awareness» («Dharma - The Way Things Are. The Real Experience and Realizations of the Spiritual Practitioner», Volume III, Chapter 3).

As a result of dual thinking, or discernment, we have delusions about the object we perceive and discern. Thus arises the second kind of ignorance, which is designated by the term «Moha» (Sanskrit: मोह, moha; Pali: මොහ, moha) - «delusion, ignorance, stupidity, foolishness, blind fascination». If the perceived object is pleasing, we have delusion: we have found our real pleasure, happiness, or joy. The desire arises to continue to enjoy the object without seeing or wanting to see that any object - gross or subtle, external or internal, primitive or complex - is impermanent. At some point, any object that pleases us, no matter how wonderful it may seem, either disappears or bores us, that is, satiety occurs. Thus, any pleasure derived from anything is an illusion of our consciousness and nothing more. However, immersed in ignorance, we do not see it: «It would be good now, and then it does not matter». Therefore, ignorance leads to the suffering of impermanence.

There is another, crucial aspect of ignorance of the Moha category. In perceiving and discerning objects, ignorance arises first, that is, the desire for pleasure in the object. Then, having experienced pleasure, we by default seek to get it again, resulting in greed. Then, also by default, hatred arises for objects opposite to those we are attached to and from which we derive pleasure. This hatred forms the World of Hell.

Thus, the essence of Avidya and Moha is the same - «not seeing», the inability to see, but in the process of perception and discernment, Avidya is the root cause and Moha is the effect. In other words, Avidya is the deep underlying factor that sets our consciousness in motion, and the mundane, or everyday, ignorance of Moha is the primitive workings of the mind to seek and enjoy external illusory objects. Fundamental Ignorance (Avidya) causes us to consider suffering and pleasure arising from our discernment as reality, and «everyday» ignorance (Moha) forces us to compromise.

Three energy centers

The energy centers in the teachings of Taoism are called Dantian. The word «Dantian» can be translated as «Elixir Field» - it is a place of accumulation and melting (transformation) of energy. «Dan» is concentrated, condensed, with very strong energy, that is - elixir. «Tian» is a field, an area. In Japanese, these areas are called Tanden, a term often used in Japanese martial arts.

There are three Tanden in humans: the upper one located in the head, the middle one in the chest, and the lower one, which is located in the lower abdomen below the navel. To feel and determine the exact location and size of each of the Dantyans can be practiced by practicing the technique of the Small Heavenly Circle.

It is necessary to note that the lower, middle, and upper Dantyans correspond with Svadhisthana-chakra, Anahata-chakra, and Ajna-chakra. However, it is impossible to put a hundred percent equal sign between Dantyan and chakra. According to my experience of practicing, Dantian includes a chakra. During energy practices and subsequent meditation, Dantian is felt as a rather large area, or sphere, within which a chakra is located in the center, resembling in shape an elongated ellipsoid. I think it is because Dantian includes chakra that it carries both its own properties and functions and those of the chakra that exists within Dantian.

Lower Dantian, or Xia Dantian, is located in the lower abdomen, below the navel. Lower Dantian includes the Swadhisthana chakra. This center is responsible for physiological processes in the human body, as the Lower Dantian stores the Primordial Jing and Qi, which are the basis of all life processes. As long as the leakage of the Primordial Jing is not stopped, as long as it is not restored one hundred percent during practice, the lower Dantian is not activated, that is why in Taoism there is a concept: «A layman (i.e. a non-practitioner) has no Dantian». A similar view exists in yoga - about it, and also about the correlation and interaction of Dantyans and chakras I will give further on a detailed description of each chakra.

During practice in this center, the reproductive energy of Jing is transformed, or melted, into the special energy of Qi.

The middle Dantian, or Zhong Dantian, is located in the middle of the chest. It includes the Anahata chakra. Middle Dantian, like Anahata chakra, controls the emotional sphere of a person, and working with this center plays an important role in the ability to control emotions, feelings, and desires. In the middle Dantian accumulates Mixed Qi.

In the middle Dantian melts Qi and transforms it into spiritual energy Shen.
The Upper Dantian, or Shen Dantian, is located inside the cranial cavity and includes the pineal gland, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, and thalamus. The upper center includes the Ajna chakra. Upper Dantian is responsible for mental abilities and intuition and also plays an important role in the spiritual development of a person.

The upper Dantian is where the Shen energy melts and returns to Emptiness («Dharma - The way things are. Real Experience and Realizations of a Spiritual Practitioner», Volume II, Chapter 2).

From conversations with the author: TIME IN MEDITATION AND ATMAN-PILOT

Q: As I have progressed in my practice, I have encountered an inability to anticipate the time spent in meditation. Often this time feels like it is compressed. When you finish meditation, you often check your physical sensations with the actual time spent in meditation. And here you may get a surprise - the time on the clock has passed more than you expected by two or even three or four times.
A: The more stable and stronger the state of concentration, the deeper the meditation, the more complete the immersion into the layers of consciousness. Time flows differently in different layers of consciousness.

Q: Can this be related to the purity of the circulating energy in the channels?
A: Yes, it is. Energy can be dirty and clean, and channels (Nadis) can be dirty or clean depending on the level of the practitioner. You move through the channels with this energy and encounter past experiences. Consciousness is then lost and you enter the Lower Astral World, after which you don't remember much. This is the Samadhi of empty space, there physical time is accelerated. You fly like an airplane, and whether the airplane flies up (i.e. to high worlds) or falls down (i.e. you get an experience of bad worlds) depends on the state of your consciousness - on the ratio of bad karma and merit. The engine of an airplane (the rise of your energy, or Wind) simply creates thrust.

Q: I take it the pilot is me?
A: The pilot is you, that is, the Atman. It is not your ego, but the Atman (True «Self») that makes the effort to concentrate in flight.

Q: What should the diligent practitioner be prepared for, what other surprises in the temporal meditative space may await him?
A: In the Astral World time flows faster, as in your case. There it seems that you meditated a little, but it turns out that three or four hours have passed. This shows that in it experience is gained much faster. The transmission of data in the sound that dominates the Astral World is faster than in the World of Phenomena in which your physical body lives.

Q: What about the Causal World?
A: The higher the level of consciousness, the faster it works in terms of experiences rather than physical desires. In the Causal World (Formless World) the law of Karma is interrupted, there is no action, so time is NONE. It stops already in the Heaven of Akanishtha, the highest Heaven of the Higher World of Forms. This is the state of perfect Samadhi when Formed experience is stopped and there is neither past nor future when Discernment is stopped.
And the speed of data transmission in the Causal World is equal to the speed of light, which forms this world of the soul essence.

Stages of the Emancipation Process.

«3. Joy
(Sanskrit: प्रीति, prīti, Pali: පීති, pīti).
Kundalini opens the Svadhisthana chakra. At this stage there is liberation from the gross and, as a consequence, the experience of the subtle Water Element. The subtle Water Element referred to here is the so-called „Nectar”, or „Nectar of Immortality”.
The Nectar is located in a special chakra called Bindu Visarga. Bindu Visarga is located in the Sahasrara chakra. In the Joy stage, Kundalini opens the Bindu Visarga and the Nectar begins to drip down, filling each of the chakras below the Sahasrara.
The main things we gain in this stage are stability, clarity, and continuity of consciousness. It no longer seeks external objects, we no longer try to get momentary pleasure from possessing them. Why? Through the stages of Delight and Joy, we find true inner satisfaction. And when the mind is satisfied, empty thoughts do not bother it. Thus, at this stage, the capacity for prolonged concentration of consciousness appears» (Volume II, Chapter 2).

Stages of the Emancipation Process.

«2. Delight
(Sanskrit: प्रामोद्य, prāmodya, Pāli: පාමොජ්ජ, pāmojja).
Our Kundalini energy awakens and begins to activate the chakras. Kundalini is the first to activate the Muladhara chakra. This is the Delight Stage, where liberation from the gross Earth Element takes place. In meditation, it feels as if the outer shell of the physical body is being destroyed.
Although this state is called „Delight” and we use this word to refer to pleasant moments in our lives, the state of Delight itself has nothing to do with the pleasant sensations we may experience in everyday life. Kundalini starts to rise upwards in a huge flow, filling, better to say overflowing, the whole body, bringing inexpressible bliss. It is a very gentle, soft, but at the same time - incredibly strong sensation. The body seems to dissolve in this powerful, overflowing flow of energy.
In this way, we take a very important step towards liberation from the illusory pleasures of the material world. In addition, at this level we begin to use the subtle senses corresponding to the Astral World and to distance ourselves from the gross senses of the World of Phenomena» (Volume II, Chapter 2).

«The process of falling is only one and the process of rising is also only one.

The energetic process of Emancipation is described in the texts of Indian Raja Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, in the texts of Chinese Taoism, as well as in the sutras of Tibetan esoteric Buddhism - Tantra-Vajrayana. The stages of the Emancipation process are also given in the suttas of the original Theravada Buddhism.

Of course, the names and part of the descriptions of these stages (steps or levels) differ in different systems of spiritual practice. For example, the original texts of Yoga are written in Sanskrit, the Taoist texts are written in Chinese, the Mahayana and Tantra-Vajrayana sutras are written in Sanskrit and Tibetan, and the Theravada suttas are written in Pali. However, the content of the spiritual experience of each of the Stages of the emancipation process, the meaning of this experience, the sequence of passing through each Stage, and their interdependence are identical in all the above-mentioned authentic systems of spiritual practice. Why is this so?

First, the three most ancient teachings - Yoga, Buddhism, and Taoism - are the only ones on Earth that speak of our realization of our original authentic state - Enlightenment and Emancipation. In Yoga, this state is labeled «Moksha», in Buddhism - «Bodhi» and «Vimutti», in Taoism - «Knowledge of the Primordial Spirit» and «Immortality». But to see this original inexpressible state and to understand the path and ways leading to it, we must not in the sense of yoga, Buddhism, or Taoism, but in the sense of what everything is. If we really want to realize this state and not just talk about it from different points of view.

Secondly, there is only one process of falling and only one process of rising. The process of falling is expressed in the Law of the 12 Stages of Conditioned Emergence, and the path of rising is the process of Emancipation expressed in the second part of the Law of Conditioned Emergence, which Buddhism, Yoga, and Taoism describe in the same way. As I mentioned above, there are differences in the details and terminology used, because the descriptions of this process were made by saints who reached different spiritual levels, spoke different languages, and lived at different times, in different countries with different cultures. However, all these saints have one thing in common - they have indeed traveled the same path, accomplished the Attainment, and left us a description of this path» (Volume II, Chapter 2).

Ancient Sutras of Original Buddhism written in Pali on palm leaf paper, early AD, Buduruvagala Museum, Sri Lanka.

«First of all, we study the Teachings and begin to control our actions, words, and thoughts. The most important thing is to control the mind, as it is primary. This is how mindfulness and concentration in daily life come into being. We learn to concentrate on familiar and understandable processes and objects in the everyday world around us. This creates the basis for unidirectional concentration (Dharana-1) in Samatha meditation. Next, in this meditation, we concentrate on „good” objects - images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the breath, or the theme of our meditation. When concentration reaches its peak, we experience the stopping of actual consciousness. It disappears. Because of this, essential concentration - concentration without object, or Contemplation (Dharana-2) - emerges. Having mastered Contemplation, we concentrate on the „bad” objects - on the data of our worldly desires and stop their action. This is the dhyana leading to Samadhi and further to Emancipation» (Volume III, Chapter 3).

Illustration: Parinirvana Stupa illustrates the process of spiritual practice.

Bodhichitta. Four Awakened States of Consciousness.
Equanimity. Impartiality (Sanskrit: Upeksha, उपेक्षा, upekṣā, Pāli: Upekkhā, උපේක්ඛා, upekkhā).

Based on our past experiences and accumulated information, we discern everything that arises before us, «this I like and this I don't». When, as a result of spiritual practice, these dual workings of the mind stop, we begin to realize everything as it is: our Distinction will remain unaffected so that no illusions of suffering or joy arise. Whatever happens, our consciousness will not be in motion. This state is what is expressed by the word «Equanimity», which is an aspect of Enlightenment.

Sometimes Upeksha is translated as «impartiality». There is no mistake or contradiction here. Why do we distinguish between «this I like and this I don't»? Because we want to get something «good» for ourselves. That is, we distinguish between ourselves and others: «I am the most important one, I don't care about others». When this false «self» that is «most beloved and most important» does not get what it wants, or runs out of fleeting pleasure, we experience suffering, precisely because we love our false «self». When the distinction between «self» and «other» and the distinction of people into «bad» and «good» is eliminated, i.e., impartiality is attained, suffering also ceases. (Volume 1, Chapter 3; Volume 2, Chapter 3)

Illustration. The inscription below the illustration, «Upeksha Paramita. Lomahansa Jataka» - Perfection of Equanimity, one of the past lives of the Buddha described in the Jataka (account of past births). A mural in the ancient Buddhist temple of Dematamal Vihara, 2nd century BC (restored in the 21st century), Sri Lanka.