Aetherous

Well, this is awfully confusing now!  So, the mingmen could conceivably be:

1) Right kidney

2) "Outer" kidney (testicles?)

3) DU4

4) Eyes (not ears, like kidneys "open" from now?)

5) BL52

That's Chinese Medicine for you...people saying different things over the years. It's up to the practitioner to know the historical context, to separate the "wheat from the chaff" or basically know what's most true and what isn't, and apply it in a clinically useful context (the most important part, since it is medicine and not just philosophy). If mingmen is just part of the theory that's learned and not something that the practitioner directly treats, then it really doesn't matter where or what it is...it would just be trivia. But if the practitioner seeks to treat the gate of life, seeks to alter the ming for a longer life, or in other words wants to boost the kidney jing directly, then they should really know the subject...otherwise they might be doing the opposite of what they intend - for instance by using DU-4 to increase jing, they might actually be spending the jing without realizing it.

An additional way to tell whether the chosen strategy is working (this isn't from clinical experience but just educated guessing)...the pulse position at KID-3 on the inner ankle should be the same strength as the other pulses as a result of treatment, not weaker, and the tongue near the back should be flat across instead of having a dip. There are also other signs which may take longer to notice, such as the ears becoming larger instead of smaller (who knows if that would even change). This is in addition to any pattern or pathomechanism signs and symptoms that indicate a problem with the kidney. Just my opinion.

Also, some say the right kidney is actually the mingmen, or it is on the diaphragm between the 2?  Any opinion on this?

Luckily I researched this subject recently, which can at least give us more info to work with to draw our own conclusions...

The mingmen being associated with the "right" anatomical kidney originated from the Nan Jing (which, being "difficult", is a questionable source of info in my personal opinion). In the commentary on the Nan Jing's 36th issue, it's debated whether it translated as "right", or "outer" (with left coinciding with "inner"). So perhaps it's not the right Kidney, but something "outer", related to the Kidney.

Later in the Ming dynasty, the mingmen was said to be between the two kidneys, which is probably how DU-4 came to be named "mingmen".

Prior to all of that, in the Nei Jing, it was associated with the eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul, as we say...or the eyes are the gate of life, as the book said. In the Nei Jing, it's never mentioned that the gate of life is the right kidney, or between the kidneys...so for a person who only believes that classic text, all of those later ideas could potentially be discredited...the Nei Jing solely says that the eyes are the gate of life...and perhaps this is in their relation to the Bladder meridian (BL-1 being the inner upper corner of the eye).

The mingmen in the Nan Jing is said to be, "the place where spirit-essence lodges; it is the place to which original influences (prenatal jing qi shen) are tied. Hence, in males it stores the essence; in female it holds the womb."

The point DU-4 is related with releasing yuan qi to the rest of the body...this is the opposite of storing the jing. So I personally feel like mingmen is not between the two anatomical Kidneys, if we're solely talking about it being an acupuncture point. It was a later idea, and it is the opposite of its stated function in the Nan Jing (if we are to believe the Nan Jing's ideas on what mingmen is, in this case...I personally do, since lifespan can be said to be determined by one's jing).

The Nan Jing's idea of it being the "right" or "outer" Kidney...to tie this in with the Nei Jing saying that the eyes are the gate of life, perhaps it's referring to the "outer" Bladder line at the level of the Kidney...specifically BL-52, named "zhi shi".

If we're considering that the spirit-essence of the Kidney is associated with the mingmen...well, the Kidney's spirit is zhi (will). BL-52 is named after that, and treats the zhi according to some acupuncturists. The point actions say that it benefits the jing, unlike DU-4. It's the "outer" Kidney shu point. Both BL-52, and DU-4, have the alternative name "jinggong" or "palace of essence". Furthermore, the French acupuncturist, Jean-Marc Kespi, specifically uses the outer bladder shu points to tonify the essence of their respective organs.

So perhaps the "mingmen" is BL-52, if we are to identify it with an acupuncture point. This is solely my idea, as far as I know.

..........Or perhaps the original idea in the Nei Jing was that the "gate of life" had a lot to do with the Heart's shen or maybe even ling, as expressed through the eyes, which in communication with the Kidney, related to the lifespan and the storage of jing. A person with healthy shen has that light in their eyes, which is associated with youth...whereas dullness is associated with decline and death or a disturbed shen.

We can only make educated guesses here...unless we belong to some Daoist lineage that has teachings on this which are coherent with the medicine.

In Blood deficiency the Mind loses its physical anchor and 'floats' giving rise to restlessness, insomnia due to mental chatter, or excessive dreaming. That's all I'm aware of their official connection, so everything else I'm extrapolating.

This "floating" associated with excess dreaming is especially related to the ethereal soul, the hun, of the Liver.

Your insights are cool, dude. The medicine progresses when people have their own insights, so long as those insights don't contradict the core principles of course.

Smart and credentialed people on the forum have previously said that it causes the mingmen fire to flare up, draining your life force, among other things. Sorry I'm not motivated enough to search and find those posts. I recall that Eternal Student said it once.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_oak_and_mistletoe

Shanlung, you are one of my favorite daobums!

pray to what?

Beneficent beings, who are perhaps omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Maybe even God.

Prayer doesn't require belief in anything or anyone, to be honest. It's a cry for help into the unseen. Then you might find that the helpers come, in subtle ways.

It works, man.

You say that you feel like you've truly lost your soul...but then you say that you've bypassed prayer? You should do it if you want to be helped with that soul thing.

dang i thought he was talking about the Greys or something intense like that

Yup something like that.

Going along with the observations on discussions going nowhere, I'm also getting tired of all the "my kungfu is better than your kungfu" that plagues both this forum and everywhere else. So long as your practice makes you happy and slowly opens the doors to the great mystery, does it really need to be the "best"?

It kind of sucks when you realize that every system is the best, in different aspects...and then you have to be exclusive to one.

...edit: not "every system". I am only referring to legitimate schools.

Just ordered some sunflower lecithin. Apparently good for people who study a lot.

Usually, you try your own thing and you get bad results. But people get bad results from other qigong things out there on the spiritual marketplace...much of it is made up by some person who doesn't really know what they're doing, anyway.

If you are very intuitive, and are able to systematically record how your body responds to various things, and understand correlations and symbolism in gestures, and have experience with true self healing...then you could probably come up with a decent type of qigong. But who is really like that and wouldn't hurt themselves in the experimentation?

Cool...your voice is getting there. At points it reminded me of these guys a bit...

I'm of the school of thought that says true awakening is about becoming more capable and useful in the world. There should be more clarity of mind, not forgetting to do important things, being apathetic, etc. Sorry to go against the grain here, of people sharing their meditation related experiences, but lets not lead each other down fruitless paths, or insist that we are personally an exemplar of the desired end result.

Drew...I assumed you were making things up again. I was flat out wrong, because the source you were quoting was peer reviewed and included translations of old Chinese texts...in which those faulty ideas were originally made up. My bad. Please don't sue me...thanks.

Drew, I have no problem addressing you directly.

I honestly thought he was just connecting the dots and making it up. I was wrong, because he was quoting some other site where someone else appears to have done that.

yeah internal pill - but the first stage while the 2nd stage is weidan as external pill for immortality.

Why make stuff up?

To say that "I practice neidan" is incorrect, since an object can not be practiced.

The Chinese language isn't created in the same way that the English language was; it's of a different mindset and logic...it uses different words that have multiple meanings and combines them into something that closely approximates the meaning in some fashion. For instance, one way of saying "carpenter" in Chinese (according to Google) is a pairing of two words: mù + jiàng. Mu basically means wood, or tree. Jiang basically means master or craftsman. So there's not a direct translation, not a specialized term in Chinese, for a carpenter...they just have words which describe what it is, and that's the term used. Basically, the overall idea here is that Chinese language is a close approximation of a concept, and works in its own way in terms of rules for the language.

To say that it's wrong to call it "practicing neidan" or inner elixir...well, I would only believe that if you were a native Chinese sinologist. Instead it just appears like a foreigner applying English language ideas onto Chinese language. Furthermore, to separate neidan from internal alchemy just seems like confusion, because they are referring to the same thing...at least in Chinese internal alchemy.

why do I feel more of a workout with bodyweight exercises then free weights, even they are heavier?

Nature of the type of exercise...free weight exercises tend to be very compound in nature, so more of your body is being used to do a simple thing. Take squatting for instance. Do 5 of those at 75% of your max. Then do 5 of them bodyweight...it's nothing to do that. Or lets compare bench press with a pushup. With a bench press your back isn't doing much work (despite your entire body being active during the lift from feet to the bar), but with a pushup your back works hard to maintain alignment and to keep your lumbar from extending while your arms doing also doing the work...it's almost an entirely different exercise in terms of what your body has to do, and is more challenging. But then again...do 5 reps at 75% of your max bench, then do 5 pushups, and the pushups will be easier.

Notice how

People don't like the truth, man.

I personally view this sort of thing in a simple way...the mind is stuck, so there isn't social lubricant. You're not so well able to flow with life. Simple...that's it.

The remedy is to practice a type of meditation (external calm abiding meditation), where you're aware of your environment instead of whatever is going on within (feelings thoughts body sensations etc). You train your awareness to go toward the outside...and when it does consistently, you're able to flow with life. The best way is to take a leaf or flower, and look at its details. When the habitual tendency of the mind comes around, going into daydream mode or else feeling body sensation or whatever...then just gently bring your attention back to the qualities of the object, the leaf or whatever it is. Noticing only that in the moment is practicing correctly, and bringing your noticing back to that when it drifted in a gentle way, is also practicing correctly.

Do that for like 10 minutes before a social situation, and you'll notice how much things change for you (provided you did it correctly, by actually training the awareness to go outward and not get stuck in the mind).

The sense of self is primarily what gets us stuck, especially in social dynamics. We're aware of ourselves being too quiet, not having enough eye contact, being this or that too much or not enough...those thoughts are draining to our energy and have a snowball effect of taking us even more internal and closed to the outside. It doesn't mean you're depressed, but it just means that your sense of self is strong, which is related to having higher intelligence...and that the solution is just to release it. When being aware of something outside of us, we're not aware of ourselves in that moment...we've released the sense of self, so that it can no longer dominate our experience.

The throat is related to our sense of self...when we're having a hard time, it tightens. Sometimes we might even have trouble breathing or have vomit come up if the stress is really bad, and we're forced to do something we really don't feel like doing. Obviously, speech is related to the throat as well...so when it's tight, speaking won't happen as naturally. Words of course can come out, but they don't flow out...the whole demeanor is forced in such a situation.

But by releasing the sense of self by being aware of other things, by relaxing and letting go, then the throat loosens. Then speech flows more easily. When you're not aware of your sense of self, there's nothing to hide regarding who you are, because there's not even a thought of who you are...so looking at people's eyes isn't such a big deal. It's only a big deal when there is the burden of who we are that we're carrying...but that burden is simply a thought that can be ignored...you stop feeding it energy and it stops dominating you. The way to stop feeding it energy, is to meditate as described.

So yeah, it's not that you literally have no emotions. For instance, I'm sure it doesn't feel great to have the social issues (as I know from some experience), and that's why you made this thread...you had emotions regarding it, because if you literally felt nothing then you wouldn't care about this issue at all, and would therefore do nothing to resolve it. So emotions are there.

Try this experiment...have a plant in front of you which you like. Get a sense of how your body feels in general...kind of like the atmosphere around your skin. Feel free to think of other thoughts for a moment...such as contemplate your grocery list. Notice how that feels to do (in terms of your vibe or skin sensation). Then pay attention to the plant in front of you, and notice how the feeling changes drastically. Stay focused on that feeling, because that's how the plant spirit is beginning to communicate with you. It's how you're aware of the spiritual aspect of the plant...because of course, a feeling is not something entirely physical.

I haven't personally played around with it much, yet...but someone who does it successfully told me how to do it. Then it will communicate in many different ways...especially if you're grateful and appreciative of the plant. That grateful energy opens you up to it...it's similar to how if you see your best friend, you feel positive and so do they, and the friendship works. You want to be around each other and help etc. Versus if there's someone who is your enemy, the connection will be closed. So in order to open up the line of communication with a plant, appreciate it.

Thinking about getting this book soon, which not only talks about this plant spirit medicine aspect, but also focuses on the symbolism of plants and what they can mean. So for those who are less intuitively inclined, there can be something gained from it. Disclaimer: I have no idea if the book is good or horrible, just stumbled upon it without looking into it.

There are probably also certain plants which are better to start this kind of meditation with, in order to open up the communication and one's intuition. Maybe mugwort is one...not sure. Gotta put time into attempting, in order for anything to happen.

It's good to think of Shangqing Daoism as being the sect that deals with receiving revelations (as can be seen from the wikipedia)...mediumship is where their texts came from. Many Kunlun people know that their dreams change after beginning, they have personal insights into the path that come out of nowhere, they sometimes deal with other beings and have visionary experiences, etc. It's kind of mysterious and not logical...so that is why: because it's part of Shangqing. Not that the Kunlun school is representative of Shangqing as a whole by any means, but it's one part that came from that school of Daoism, and it's good to realize that the practices work the way they do because of that. Specifically, the Kunlun stuff is based around mudras and sometimes visualization...so we can be pretty sure that it's a later addition to Daoism coming from Buddhism's influence. And I suppose within the Shangqing school there were various branches of training...perhaps some were alchemical...I don't know. But whatever they are, the overarching theme would likely be: personal revelation.

In the Kunlun school, the main purpose is the gold dragon body, which is like the rainbow body except you don't shrink and leave only your fingernails etc...you're still a normal person. You just sometimes experience your body vanishing, as can be seen very well with Kan on their website (if those photos aren't doctored). That's one goal a person can have, and while it's interesting, it's not amazing. Something more amazing in my opinion is mind training from Buddhism, which has the potential to change a personality completely into a benevolent force. Becoming a good person, and dealing effectively with life, is impressive. What's the point of momentarily fading out of material existence, if you're not a good person? If you still get bitterly angry when someone wrongs you (as I'm well acquainted with personally)? Then it becomes like a parlor trick (if other people can even notice it). I think the gold dragon body effect actually depends on being highly virtuous, as well...so likely that the effect doesn't even take place so long as the practitioner is trying to have it happen for poor reasons.

Furthermore...I view the Kunlun methods as being like gently opening Pandora's box. "Opening up" is a good thing, since any form of attachment aversion or ignorance indicates mental poison, as opposed to equanimity acceptance and awareness for instance, which are good qualities. But not everything that you open up to is good. Then it becomes about how you deal with it, which was the theme of this one thread from back in the day. And it's also why I moved on to fully positive practices. No use in being afraid of the dark side of the force, but do you want to spend all your time in there? Better to go hang out with the Jedi council after having been there and done that.

Just my ideas at the moment.