Zen is not a religion. There is no room for a cult. There is no dependence on a teacher. There is only learning how to use your own mind and making it strong.

Just as we have a physical body, so we have an etheric body and the etheric body is made up of energy, of light.

Are you still carrying everyone who's insulted you, injured you or interfered with you? That's a lot of weight. I'd let it go, personally, and just move on and forget. Be in the moment. Don't even notice.

While it is possible to create all your own energy, most people feed off the energy of others. If you could see on multiple planes of attention you would be astonished!

Even a good self will create another good self in the next life, and another one, and that good self will never be enlightened. You'll be bound, life after life, by good karma.

You could use a flower, a candle flame, anything you want that's suggestive of beauty and eternality.

When we mediate, we are raising the kundalini through focus, through concentration. There is a metaphysical astral process that's taking place.