Miffymog

Hi MooNiNite, Questioning convention is easy - the challenging bit is coming up with a better idea

Hi Unseen_Abilities, I kind of enjoyed reading your above post - but I was wondering if you could sum it up in a few sentences as I kind of lost the thread of it as some point? Cheers, Miffymog.

Sorry to spoil your Sunday morning cup of tea, but it's worth spending a moment appreciating the freedoms we have... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3257383/Thousands-religious-prisoners-China-livers-kidneys-corneas-ripped-ALIVE-sell-transplant-tourists-claims-new-film.html

- oh Taoist Texts, I love your vague illusions to a greater knowledge of Daoist practices You speak with the youthful confidence of someone in their 20's. But your understanding is that of someone with decades of study. SO - (not to prejudice you with your age) DO TELL US - HOW OLD ARE YOU????

Dawie is totally right. I was good friends with a Mandarin teacher and immersion is best - BUT - there are so many different regional variations, what are your goals? But good luck on this - I respect any westerner who can converse in Chinese!!!

I loved VonKrankenhaus' interpretation of our initial experience of the external world being via the mouth and tongue. This is clearly true if you watch a new born baby, which Dealuin makes reference to. I also like VonKrankenhaus' interpretation of how your tongue 'analyses' what is in the mouth and conveys this information to the brain from the way it connects with the top of the mouth. My tongue is quite long and I can reach behind the soft pallet and touch the nasal cavity with ease (no need to cut the base of the tongue for me). Not sure if I am going to include this in my practice, as I almost feel be sick when I try it.

I'm very much a believer that the MCO is something that does itself. When in a relaxed, calm and present state, you might choose to become aware of the the front and back channels. If you do, you may start to notice the MCO doing itself. In that moment, you are a passive observer of events. A small part of your mind is naturally following it, the rest of your mind, the majority of it, however, is quite indifferent and unconcerned by it. But, the mind is more tranquil by having the MCO going on in the back ground. Question – should the MCO be practised in order to practice the MCO? (or should you approach it with other techniques)

Just some random thoughts - would some very gentle vacuum therapy help or is that too dangerous to do on your eyes? Also, what energetic practices were you doing at the time? Would getting your MCO going in the forward direction help? The main thing here is that you've had it for so long. All the sensible ideas you tried a long time ago, this means it's most likely something you may have to continue living with.

Not had that happen to me ever, but if I've got some strange energy rushes, standing meditation always helps me. Also, depending on what energetic practice you were doing, may be a reverse MCO might help. But as you've had it for a while, the best thing might be to go to a TCM practitioner or maybe a local acupuncturist.

Sorry, not seen it before myself - but I like the artwork

Few things beat you up as much as the end of your first true love, try not to attribute too much spiritual significance to this. Unfortunately, there is only one thing that will help you get over this - time. Also, getting yourself 'a life' helps. Go out, do things and meet people.

No movements, just the sounds, as I am trying to enter into a relaxed sleepy state. I use Chia's sounds as they were the first I came across a number years ago. My morning practice consists of a brief stretch, stand and shake. My evening one, while in bed, takes the form of doing the healing sounds, 3 breaths each. Short and simple and, for me, maintainable. They help me drift off into a nice, deep and peaceful sleep. I am waking up to some strange dreams at the moment, although I'm not sure whether doing the healing sounds 8 hours earlier has any effect on this.

Currently, I do the healing sounds before I go to sleep and I find them a good way to relax me before I drift off to sleep. They do seem to get rid of some of the tension I gained through out the day. I've had some experience with lucid dreaming and had some success. But, for me, the effort I had to put in to it in terms of setting my alarm clock early, walking around, and then going back to bed in order to get into that state, was not worth it in the long term. I can see that there are many benefits from such practices, but they were too difficult for me to achieve.

Damn you Eobard_wells You've made me break my self imposed rule of not getting involved with discussions when they get off topic.... I just have to ask you to clarify what you mean here. I have a massive belief that when you try to communicate an idea, you should try to make it as comprehensible as possible. So, this guy you were talking about was idealistic. I like this description of a person. For me, it means they often have a positive out look on life. Later on in the sentence, you're suggesting that this guy was trying to help those who are not serious spiritual practitioners. I also like this, as I, myself, am not a serious practitioner. I was just wondering, am I right in this interpretation? (apologies to others if this is starting to open that can of worms). Cheers, Miffymog.

Hi Yinja There was a time when I used to enjoy taking drugs such a LSD and MDMA and then meditating. The states I entered were, at the time, fascinating. They taught me how a lot of life and reality was about perception. Then, afterwards, I came back to real life. I was lucky, these experiences never left me with anxiety issues (that, unfortunately, came later on in life due to other circumstances). From my experience of similar,but not the same circumstances, I would agree with what has been said in earlier posts. Part of my spiritual practice now is to lie, face down, on the ground. I would also really recommend stepping back from drugs. Alcohol is quite a flexible drug, so if you need some form of release, this is has less of an impact on your mind long term and could be taken. But I would suggest you don't take the others you mentioned. Good luck with all this - I'm certain the negative effects will diminish in time. Some exercise always helps too

I wouldn't mix the cool draw technique with opening the MCO. Different things. The white pearl orbit sounds a bit better and you might mix it with deer exercise. But I'm one who thinks that the MCO is actually an advanced exercise and is not something you should be doing for some time, although I know there are others who think otherwise, and that's fine. Try out some movement practices and maybe some more passive meditation techniques. There is a lot to be gained from calming and centring your mind and then developing your physical body before you do any MCO stuff.

Being a Brit myself - I am very interested to see how he will affect politics here. He is the only Labour candidate with very clear policies, i.e. get rid of nuclear arms, tax the rich more heavily and re-nationalise public services such as the rail. I couldn't tell you what any of the policies of the other candidate are, they don't really have them.

- not noticed it myself, I can only guess that doing this is activating the MCO, due to the contraction of the PC muscle.

As the Topic Title says really. I've no idea why they feel so different, wondered what others peoples thoughts were on this.

Hi thelerner - just tried the links in the above post and they didn't work for me I'm afraid.

Standard response to this kind of query - just don't do it. If you take up some qi gong practice (which is much safer), you'll naturally improve your sexual performance as a consequence. But, really don't worry about the stuff in that book, especially at your age.

Be slightly careful with going down a 'healing' route with your partner with out a bit more experience of that stuff yourself. As you said, you tend to absorb other people's **** in this kind of thing. Taking it on board with out knowing the right techniques of freeing yourself could do you no good. It's probably best just being a good partner for her in normal ways, which will be helping her hugely, and then encouraging her to seek help from someone more experienced and skilled.

Just to add my thoughts on what the pain body is - (which overlaps with what others have said here). Not so long ago there was quite a lot of tension inside of me (physical/emotional/spiritual?). Just like Tolle explained in his book, The Power of Now', I would find in certain challenging situations almost my whole body would tense up. I guess it was kind of protecting me, but it was very much an overreaction to what was going on. I found that by practising ZZ, this 'pain body' began to dissolve by slowly sinking into the ground. After about 4 months, I had found this tension had gone and I am now much more calm and relaxed. The best explanation I've found for this is what Tolle called the 'pain body'. Whether the dissolving of this has affected what I listen to and watch, I'm not so sure, but I am more relaxed, so possibly.

Hi Rocco, I'm not trying to be harsh here, but I reckon you should just forget the experience and not read too much in to it. Some practices can result in various emotional releases, but a long term product is to have balanced, proportional emotional responses to all situations. Your initial situation was driving on the highway. Any 'proper' emotional experiences you should be having at the time should be in tune with what you were doing - which was driving. Your kind and friendly emotions at the time, (although very positive and pleasant) where out of tune with your task at the time. A release maybe, but not in phase with what you were doing. You then took this slightly distorted emotional state into the restaurant. This mildly altered state could then result in you slightly misinterpreting what happened, or rather reading too much into it. Not to diminish any insights you had while driving, it is often a time when the mind can wonder and come up with good ideas, and being more friendly to people is definitely a good idea. But I feel you might be reading too much in to those events. All the best, Miffymog

In time the breath will be silent, smooth and gentle. Lam Kam does not put too much emphasis on what to do with the breath in that book as, in time, it will settle down by itself. From the questions you ask, I'd suggest worrying about it a little less. But, what should you focus your mind on? You want to get better and have good technique, and improving the breath is part of this, so what should you do? There are various suggestions, try to relax, imagine the balloons you are resting on, put your awareness on the LDT. Ultimately, just persevere with the practice and your breath will sort it self out, when it does, you'll know.