anshino23

Some thoughts... Follow the Teachings, not the Teacher. Do not take the teachings on faith before you investigate for yourself and find benefit for oneself and for all. When looking at a Teacher, ask: Does this teacher encourage personal investigation and understanding? If a teacher encourages students to chase sensory impressions as law, his teaching is questionable. If a teacher teaches supernatural abilities as the goal of the path, rather than milestones on the Way, his teaching is questionable. If a teacher discourages investigation and enforces doctrine, this teacher is questionable. One should seek to know whether the teacher has attainment or is connected with a living lineage with supramundane enlightenment at the head of the lineage - a teacher who is not enlightened can teach you mundane wisdom, but this teacher cannot teach you supramundane wisdom. Can this teacher bring out deep wisdom from the insight-stream and be able to answer questions with deep wisdom? Can this teacher be unobstructed by any situation and yet have perfect conduct? Can this teacher be unobstructed by evil realms? Does this teacher have signs and manifestations of the extraordinary attainments; signs and milestones ("fruits") of correct practice?

I like my friend's take on this... May provide you with a different perspective... Allow me to share... This answer is not as straightforward as one might think. Remember that there is also always the level of mundane critical thinking, where one should look at cause-and-effect and sensibility, instead of sticking to values, rites and rituals blindly. The world functions as a better place because of sensibility (with good intentions) and not solely on virtue. There are a few things we need to consider before we answer the question. The first thing is always the motivation and intention of the teacher. The second thing is the student. Lastly, it is how the whole thing fits in a way that allows for the fruits of enlightenment to be reaped on both sides. For the teacher, if you were to ask for monetary returns, that is not a mistake. The mistake is not about reciprocation but about accessibility of the dharma. We must strive to let the dharma be accessible to anyone, regardless of one's financial status. Hence, many teachers function by a donation-only basis, which emulates the begging lifestyle advocated by the Buddha. Begging is not supported in western societies, and is in fact shunned, with the increase of laws against homelessness. Hence, it is not practical, because a follower of the Buddha has to firstly ensure one's own physical survival before one is able to cultivate the dharma. There are enlightened beings who write about their experiences and sell them as copies. This reason is simple: If you follow the laws of how the world operates, money is an enabling method for distribution, as well as for survival. The problem rises only when one becomes attached to this material gain and what it offers, indulging in it instead of using it purely for subsistence. It is more of a mastery of cause and effect, not sticking to rigid views. An enlightened being is human, of course one must live according to the rules of society. Another point about the teacher is that this teacher must recognize one's own attainment. Mastery of a certain jhana, leading to factors like bliss, joy, tranquility, equanimity and so on, are essential, because absorption is always linked to insight. The deeper one goes, the more insight one has, and there is in increased ability to look at the whole process as a whole. Addictions and habits must at least be worked on, or roasted away through jhana. The reason for this is that the student almost always reflects as the image of the teacher. Hence, if a diligent student does not attain fruit, you can be sure that the teacher does not have attainment. A teacher must thus not teach above one's level. About the student, this can be complicated. There are people who do not value free things. The reason for this is the need for reciprocity and personal projection. People tend to value things that they gain by what they lose. In a way, giving up an unawakened lifestyle in exchange for one based around contemplation can be a huge cost. In the same way, losing material wealth for the dharma can have a psychological effect. This requires a keen sense of insight on the part of the teacher. Lastly, meditation should not be for any other purpose than to reach enlightenment, for in the light of anything worth in th world, there is no other way to end suffering than to cut the fetters that bind us to samsara. Therefore, while meditation can be promoted as a way of relaxation, therapy or benefit-reaping exercise, we should be reminded that all of these traits come as a side-effect when one stops grasping and goes into jhana anyway. Most importantly, it is about accessibility for those who knock on the doors searching for truth, as well as accuracy of what is taught. Also, subsistence and non-indulgence in wealth on the side of the teacher.

It’s funny how your experience differs completely with mine in terms of Damo. As long as one is being respectful and kind I’ve seen all questions being answered and everything not answered he says it’s more for an in-person thing which I completely respect. As for your current teacher I funnily found the opposite the case. It was just a “trust me.” with no real explanations and — as I understood it — none of the real developmental stages were similar to what I’ve confirmed with other high-level practitioners that learn from authentic neidan lineages so I quickly lost faith — lots of lofty claims was part of it. As I know and practiced with the teacher I know first-hand and not just speaking on belief. So it’s interesting to see the difference in your experience. Wish you the best in your practice however.

Imagine putting this on your resume. You really can't make this stuff up!

New interview up:

The mind is a powerful thing. The story you keep telling yourself is keeping you from healing. "My colon is damaged." "My body is useless." "I just get sicker and sicker." Ever heard of self-hypnosis? You're doing it - just the wrong way. Try to replace with: "My colon is getting better and better." "My leakages are getting better and better." "I am healing every day." "I just get better and better every day." You're being too focused on the problem instead of focusing on the solution. We don't know anything about you yet. You keep talking about symptoms, but you haven't once told us: How are you sleeping? When are you going to bed and when are you waking up? How many hours of proper sleep are you getting? How are you socialising? What do you spend your days on? Are you seeing family members and spending time with others or are you completely isolated? How are you eating? Are you getting proper meals and sticking to a schedule of breakfast, lunch and dinner? Are you getting fresh air every day? Are you doing any physical exercise to get your mind away from your bodily sensations? You keep saying, "I've already followed all the advice giving here on this thread but this ball keeps flying into my head." So please, enlighten us. How have you followed this advice? Answer the above questions in clear format so we can understand more fully what's going on. If not, there is no way for us to truly help you I am afraid.

My Buddhist friend had a post about this topic I feel would be nice to share in this context: "The first I want to say is that this is a delicate matter and very prone to misunderstanding. Many people who have read tons of spiritual information already have a conception in their mind. I ask of you to pour it all away. The first message you must understand is this: What you suppress, you impress. One who has sex freely, thinks less of sex than one who forcibly represses sex. When one represses lust, it is like stuffing the mess of clothes into the cupboard. When one day, the cupboard gives way, the mess pours back in. You cannot block the light of the sun with your palm. There are many reasons for having a heightened sexuality, and this must be explored. In a past lifetime, you may have taken a powerful vow of celibacy, or perhaps been traumatized in a certain manner. That is one possibility. A more recent possibility is that modern society is hyper-sexualized and as all things exist in polarity, its opposite, sex shaming has also risen. You see sex-shaming especially in religious institutes and places where the practice is not right. This results in all the news about supposedly-religious people succumbing to sexual misconduct. Sex is perfectly natural. It is a beautiful way for nature to produce more of its organisms. It has such power - to pull a being into a body and generate a life. It is sacred and close to the Divine. However, the problem comes when one becomes addicted to it. One who has transcended lust is immensely interested in sex. However, this one is also immensely interested in everything else. The stars, the moon, the Sun, the trees, the people around him, the bugs crawling in the earth - they are a reflection of the wondrous, beautiful cosmos. One who is above lust, is one who no longer sees lust as the solution to one's satisfaction. This is a great difference from forced suppression. Yes, there are energetic costs to losing sperm, especially for a male. Losing one drop of semen is like losing blood. The power contained within to produce a life is as such. There is no doubt about it. However, to suppress one's lust is wrong. To shame oneself out of sex is also not the way. To control, restrict - This is only the way of one who does not understand the dharma. Even the Buddha himself, as he sat under the Bodhi tree, encountered the temptation of Mara's most beautiful women. Have you asked yourself why most sages talk about this temptation? It is because through the Buddha's asceticism, he suppressed this desire - and it has surfaced as an subconscious desire. To understand why sex is so addictive, you must firstly understand exactly why it gives one so much bliss. Orgasm is the very cause. What exactly, is orgasm? In orgasm, one's mind suddenly stops. At the point of time, one is unbounded by time and space. At that point, one sheds the ego, together with one's partner. At that one point, man reverts to nature, and all facades, appearances and self-deception disappears. However, orgasm ends - because the very nature of it is that the ego continues its clutches. Attachment resumes. Thoughts come back in. Having a taste of this blissfulness, one craves it. In true jhana, one tastes exactly this blissfulness. This is because it is the same - one is unbounded by space and time, giving rise to one-pointedness. Ego is shed. Facades fade to nature. One becomes innocent. So do not go down the wrong route of suppressing sex without understanding why it is so. One who has transcended lust is one who embraces everything - everything reminds that one of the Divine - emptiness - the void. If you treat your partner with selfless care, with non-addiction, with respect, love and care, then sex is perfectly wholesome. If you want to have sex, then have sex the right way. However, you must understand the energetic costs of doing so. That is all. If you have sex, do not lie that you are cultivating your energy for higher purposes - it is very simple. Be honest with yourself. It is better to be honest than to lie to oneself and push it into a repression. It is not repression, but an embracing of everything else, and the understanding of why sex can be blissful. Then you can understand how this connection to the Divine, this blissfulness, can be sought in one's meditation. Sex is a connection of the sacral chakra between two partners. However, true tantra is when one connects all the chakras - not just the sacral chakra - and both partners are purified and capable of eliminating blockages within the energetic body. It is a highly sacred art that is not easily mastered - only possible by guidance of a master. Allow yourself free expression, with careful investigation of oneself. When the Buddha said - "Speak truthfully", what did he mean? When all the masters talk about not even letting lust arise in the mind - it is this understanding. It is not repression. It is the natural state of being one with all. It is the freedom from afflictions and addictions. It is spontaneity in the Tao."

How does one show the embryo?

Maybe I'm just being boring now... but why is it important? I had all kinds of fun experiences like this before, especially on psychedelics.. Seeing with eyes closed... Rainbow light filaments flooded all over my vision. Fractals and layers of fractals all over. Coloured lights above people's heads... Tracers around my fingers... If one does not change... if it does not lead to more wisdom, knowledge, love... what is the point? Let's say you can see people's auras clearly. You can sense areas of their bodies that are dysfunctional based on the colours (or your subjective interpretation of them). What then? Is it your place to interfere and tell them what you see? Do you have the wisdom necessary to understand what you are seeing? What if you're seeing something but you're interpreting it incorrectly and giving false information on those grounds? Is it just for fun? It just kinda seems like working on stuff like that on the spiritual journey, as a goal in itself, is pointing oneself and one's training in the wrong direction... but I am no master so what do I know

Like freeform says I can confirm I never personally experience big emotions welling up during Zifagong where it felt like I was actually experiencing them. It’s almost dissociative in a way. You’re just there as a witness while your body starts crying, lying on the floor, flailing it’s limbs around, going into weird mudras and asanas, saying strangest sounds and so forth… all the while internally you’re just watching it all happen. It’s weird but literally just feels like the body is defragmenting parts of the unconscious as the Qi hits through various blockages.

@freeform: Can you take a look at this guys story please and give him your thoughts? The guy reached out personally and I thought he could use your trained eyes. Thanks in advance

What about VR goggles + practice with a teacher doing remote transmission? Just kidding, I agree and don't think they'll ever replace the real thing either.

Ah, so you're referring to the calculus of taking action, not taking action itself. In that case, I fully agree. As with any medical procedure it's certainly important to be wise about it - and do as you say. Outside of emergency situations, we always have time to go a bit deeper and try to really assess the situation holistically to figure out what the next logical steps may be for our situation.

Not entirely sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean it literally, as in not even changing lifestyle? Doing nothing when you have a health problem seems a peculiar stance to me.

Speaking of, I remember one of the biggest-dosed mushroom trips I had while lying on the top of a roof of a house looking at the stars I was able to see a complete grid of energy connecting every single star. It no longer looked like individual stars, but instead like a web of interconnected points or lines. Was really cool when I saw it - I wonder if that is what the stars also looks like to a master daoist.

Dragonlines in Daoism if I'm not mistaken, also known as leylines. Very cool stuff.

As I have treated many men with these issues - it's not as simple as you're depicting I'm afraid For instance I've seen guys with 300-400 ng/dl of total testosterone and a free testosterone just over the lowest reference range with zero symptoms of androgen deficiency. So what's going on there? Well, it could be many things - for instance we know that androgen receptor sensitivity is very important for one to respond to circulating androgens. Could it for instance be that people that are very sensitive to androgens don't need as high levels in their circulation to have adequate hormonal and androgenic response? Secondly, I've seen the opposite example... guys with >1000 ng/dL of total testosterone and free testosterone in the very highest of free testosterone levels that have struggled with all the symptoms of androgenic deficiency like low libido, poor muscle building, brain fog, immense fatigue, poor sleep, aching back and knees, etc... So in my opinion it is really the patients situation that is important and a holistic assessment that is necessary. Most young guys with secondary hypogonadism issues also have to take into account this is a lifelong dedication of biweekly to weekly intramuscular testosterone injections, so it's not a decision to be taken lightly. I am speaking generally here and not in your case. You have a clear case of testicular failure where supplying it exogenously makes very good sense. But it's not really as clear-cut as the private clinics would have you believe

In my opinion... that's simply expedient means... This is a very known thing by most public teachers. If someone has a medical issue and you tell them "no, if you start this treatment it will not allow you to achieve the highest rungs of achievement in the internal arts" do you think said person would say so? In my opinion - as a public teacher - you also simply want to make sure people are practicing so they improve their Ming - this will help them maybe in a future incarnation achieve the highest, even if they may not reach it in this lifetime. But to be told, "No it's not possible" would be disheartening right? And could cause said person to stop practicing which wouldn't be beneficial. So I personally think there's a lot of half-truths being told especially if you're not a direct student under said teacher, where there is an intimate relationship and you're initiated into the lineage and its practices. And yes I am specifically talking about higher levels of Neigong and then Alchemy. For instance it would be very interesting to see if someone on TRT would be able to produce the Amrita... As I understand the Amrita is a rejuvenation of the entire endocrine system; and as we know, taking exogenous substances such as testosterone, blocks the endogenous production of hormones from the pituitary gland in the brain...

Yes I’m aware of how it’s used both in clinical practice (as I worked as an endocrinologist for more than a year) and also outside of clinical practice in terms of enhancement and anti-aging concerns. In your case it’s very clear — we call this a primary issue. If the testicles are no longer working — no matter the signal from the brain, you cannot produce adequate levels of testosterone. Supplying the body with the needed testosterone exogenously in that case makes very good sense as the body produces no testosterone in that case. The more difficult case — as was the case with Rogan and many others even younger guys that I’ve seen — is that the testosterone levels are normal but it’s just above the lowest reference range — and the brain is no longer sending adequate signalling through luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormone from the pituitary gland to adequately stimulate the testes to produce higher levels of testosterone. When someone gives a person like this TRT they go from being low normal to high normal and maybe even supraphysiological compared to other normal guys — as a poor nights sleep or excessive stress would deplete a normal persons testosterone levels — but in the case of supplying the testosterone exogenously the person has a constant high level in their bodies. My question would more apply to these people. Also I would be curious if one can undergo alchemical processes whilst being on hormonal replacement therapy… Since that would be working with the essences and pre-natal substances how would taking something exogenously affect those substances? These are the hard questions and I’m not sure anyone but a master could answer unfortunately. In any case I’m very happy TRT is helping you. I’ve treated many with TRT and seen absolutely mind boggling life changing effects on their lives — so don’t misunderstand me. I’m certainly not against it. I am just very curious whether someone can get very far in these Arts and still be taking exogenous substances when said substances may interfere with natural processes that are part and parcel of energetic practice.

I guess the question is more in terms of Jing then. Can you have jing depletion but without kidney depletion? I wouldn't imagine that TRT leads to jing-stilling in that case because desire generally increases. Because most that are on a good protocol of TRT experience positive effects on all the things you mentioned. This is partially driven by testosterone’s effects on anabolic processes in the body and secondly through its powerful neuromodulatory effect on dopamine signalling in the brain. Many on TRT have found themselves more level-headed, less tendency toward addictions (due to stabilising effect of dopamine levels) and better concentration. But on top of this also much increased desire which manifests as increased motivation to work (earning money, working out, projects, whatever it may be) as hard mental and physical work becomes more enjoyable due to the neurotransmitter effects. The physical effects are usually much stronger back, legs and spine (after 1-2 years of therapy bone mineral density increases quite markedly) — and much faster recovery from tough physical exercise. Hence why many even young males jump on so-called sports TRT which leads to much faster rates of muscle building while avoiding the negative effects of overtraining. The question is whether these effects of “artificially” raising hormone levels leads to deleterious effects over time — especially from an energetic point of view as well. A good explanation by Derek from MPMD here on what TRT feels like:

How old are you and what have you noticed in terms of energetics (if anything)? Taken from a Daoist energetic perspective wouldn't TRT actually decrease the settling of jing and thus actually cause higher drain on the jing since one would feel a very high level of sexual desire? Maybe it's more nuanced I am not sure, but I've always been curious to the energetic consequences of something like TRT -- which was also made very popular by Joe Rogan. I am very curious if something like "kidney depletion" can be seen in a person's face just from looking at them? Perhaps related to under their eyes? Maybe @freeform has an idea, or @Shadow_self. I've noticed the same thing in quite a few guys on TRT.

I saw this guy before. He's the classical gone-wrong Guru type IMHO... Thinks he has some sort of enlightenment, maybe has some energetic skill, combines it with Reiki and god knows what else... and then plays around with people's energy systems and what not... I'd personally stay clear, but I guess it depends what you're after... I am sure both @Shadow_self and @freeform have come across those types of guys before... Maybe they can comment.

Like most things in life the answer is usually more nuanced than yes/no. When it comes to herbal therapies we have to remember that like any other discipline of human knowledge and endeavour it depends on expertise and skill. One person may be given herbs for a particular ailment and their symptoms are resolved. Another person may be given herbs for a particular ailment and their symptoms do not resolve or worsen. The difference is usually in the expertise in the physician prescribing said herbs. There is a whole discipline of knowledge surrounding herbalism - and it also depends on whether we talk of Chinese medicine's use of herbs or Ayurveda use of herbs as they are different in their modalities. As for whether they can cure "diseases", you'll have to be more specific as well, as the answer is usually "it depends". What disease are you talking about? As an example... an acute myocardial infarction (blood clot in one of the arteries supplying fresh oxygen-rich blood to the heart) will not be solved by herbs. It will be solved by an acute intervention like percuteaneous coronary intervention which is a procedure used to widen the blocked or narrowed artery. Alternatively something like pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes can in some cases be completely reversed through diet, exercise and yes, sometimes herbs (e.g. berberine). So the answer is, in my understanding, it simply depends. I hope this helps

What are the examples of said trinkets? Are the stories or “made a deal with the devil” (entities) then really true? Fame, fortune, money, sex… all the base desires but basically gaining more karma and lower realm existences as a consequence? and how much does the human have to know to be able to make said “informed decision”? Or can they literally just manipulate you as much as they want and you don’t even know what you’re doing until it’s too late? Pretty nightmareish if the latter is the case….

Also... this is more on a personal side of things ... but I personally find if I do my practice relatively late at night both that I feel immensely energized after and harder to fall asleep, but this "harder to fall asleep" aspect manifests in me having access to a lot of imagery while lying down at night. Usually I don't experience imagery at all and have actually always considered myself as partly aphantasic... but lately I feel like I have access to a sort of particular spot in my awareness with closed eyes that feels like a 'screen' where imagery then appears. Very lifelike in fact.