exorcist_1699

In China , it is said to have four different schools in Taoist practice: West, East , South and North. The South school is famous for its insistence on "Dual cultivation"; The North insists on "single cultivation" ( The famous Dragon Gate belongs to the North, the biggest ) The West school's significance is its starting point : space outside our body . Of course , where you start will give you different feelings.

The feeling of qi is dependent on where you start. Most people start from focusing on somewhere in their bodies for it is the easiest. In fact, you can start from some place outside your body , say , the "emptiness " just before your eyes . Of course, starting from outside , instead of inside, gives you different feelings of qi . It also helps you evading some potential dangers. Starting from nowhere is a talented way , or a genius way.

It is undoubtedly needed ; the older you get, the deeper you understand its importance . The lost of jing , unfortunately, is not only through sex , there are many other channels.

In fact, spiritual cultivation does require an ability different from science or arts, maybe you can call those who are especially strong in this area religious talents/ genius. Fortunately, with the establishment of taoist jing-qi-shen framework , people can grasp the steps and identify the phenomena easier , and , there are a lot of guidelines to follow . In Buddhist cultivation , an ability to grasp the core of Awakening in one stroke , skipping all those trivial things ,layers and reasoning , is important . Unlike Taoism , Buddhist way is expressed in many personal experiences , and , they are always subjective and difficult to share with other people ; In most cases, you have to go to a much competent master , tell him what you have experienced spiritually so as to get a proof . Quite the contrast , for example , the completion of transforming jing to qi in Taoist cultivation is clear-cut , you yourself know whether you succeed it or not .

Deliberately try to stop menstruation or release of jing (especially nocturnal emission) is very difficult , if not impossible ; however, capable of accomplishing it does lead to delaying aging or even stopping aging / forever beauty ; Resolute guy /lady can take a trial ( just several months' time ; but please make sure that you thoroughly understand the basic taoist principles before you start ;understanding the basics of TCM is always helpful) ; Some people may think that it is unnatural ... in fact, many people think of it only when they catch serious disease such as AIDS or cancer ( in most cases too late )... ; it is really up to you .However , in that case, most extraordinary achievement in sports , arts and science can be viewed unnatural for most people really can't do it . By the way , one of the main criteria of judging a master , see whether he/she is competent or not , is to ask the way how to stop nocturnal emission ( in male case ) ; if the guy talks about not reading pornographic materials or not drinking too much water before sleep ...etc , those trivial stuff , then he is unlikely to be a real master .

Comparing with Enlightenment , our present consciousness is just a status of dreaming . In fact , similar to matter, consciousness consists of many layers , or endless layers. Just like peeling off an extreme clear onion's skin , there are many layers to go. And, the deeper you go , the clearer a mind you attain , the more a power you gain...unfortunately , it also means more challenges/ dangers you have to face ; however, if we stick to the right way, not distracted by something evil, then as Confucius said : "those who equipped with high morals are free of worries and fear "

Both Buddhism and Taoism target at nourshing something totally new , alive and vigorous from emptiness/nothingness, ie, attaining the Real-Void . It is a status of dynamic , not something stagnant, a ripple-less mindlessness ; Nor is it a very peaceful feeling , passive unity of oneself with the external world/ universe..etc . More likely it is an abrupt openning of an unseen door before you , a sudden appearance of a bottomless hole beneath you ....an unexpected pop-up of another new , powerful Mind ( in Buddhist term: Enlightenment )or Person ( in Taoist term : the divine fetus ) from your body , not always peaceful , sometimes even scaring ; maybe something like a small ,trivial mammal, which originally live among trees , searching for small insects and fruits so as to have itself fed on, one day suddenly wakes up from its dream , and find that itself has become a human being , with a total new consciousness and power. Pseudo-Void ,although giving people good feeling , is unproductive in the end , therefore is the main trap in the Buddhist cultivation. On the other hand, attachment to sex pleasure/practice , or those wonderful feelings of qi arising from our body at the stage of transforming jing to qi , is the main trap in Taoist cultivation.

Without the discovery of meridians and acupoints , hardly can we undersatnd the characrteristcis and behaviour of qi in our body ; incapable of discovering qi and its various other forms: jing and shen , and their delicate interactions , western spiritual cultivation is inevitably trapped in mysticism .

Unfortunately it seems both links are far from Enlightenment. One is still in that pool of still , stagnant water, the "dragon " has not appeared; One is trapped in philosophical reasoning .

Some people are eager to study Taoism from an anthropological , psychological or physic point of view , although the studies are always interesting and full of insights , most of them miss to notice one thing that Taoism may be beyond the reach of these "trivial" sciences . Besides, Taoism lays the foundation for TCM ( Traditional Chinese Medicne ) and acupuncture , a medical system that is used to cure ten millions of people's disease over thousands of years, which is also the only medical system in this world that counter to the western one , and , it grows together with all teachings and clinical results of TCM. For example, some psychiatric diseases occur in Taoist qi gong practice can be cured by Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture; conversely , most of the diseases can be cured by Taoist qi gong .Unable to sleep well is a illness TCM views as due to the failure of intercourse between water(life hides in abdoment) and fire( our spirit on top) , which, is also an important principle in Taoist cultivation. In fact, the jing-qi-shen framework is not only a framework of Taoist cultivation , but also an important reference framework in TCM.

Witch said :"I thought that having a strong sexual desire helped cultivation. " It is absolutely true. Without such a drive, we can't get the seed for our rebirth .Taoists likely will agree with this idea; Buddhists are unlikely . We rely on what is pseudo , in order to attain what is the real ; rely on the post-heaven , in order to attain the pre-heaven . The point is how to "assimilate" the strong sexual desire so that it will not be harmful to us , and further transform it into some kind of Awakening .

Women's way of transforming extra blood, which generally is prepared to nourish a baby , into qi, the so-called slashing the red dragon , of course , is similar to men's way of transforming jing (sperm) into qi , both imply temporary suspense of biological reproductive process, so as to target at nourishing another new level , everlasting life in our bodies. The fetus nourished by Taoist way , its power and characteristics , of course, will be different from the Buddhist one because it does get through a process of " refining " qi cum jing/blood , which Buddhism skips .

Both focusing on the abdomen and rubbing breast, if you do it incorrectly , will constantly arouse sex impulse , which not only bad for your cultivation , also make things worse . For example ,regarding focusing on your abdomen, if you do it too zealously, can lead to repeated nocturnal release of jing , a symptom certainly bad for health ,not to speak of upgrading your cultivation.

Instead of focusing on the abdomen area as men do , women are advised to concentrate ( slightly and skilfully , of course ) on the middle area of their breast so as to initiate qi . In fact, comparing with men who are always interrupted by sex impulse ,a resolute woman is more likely to accomplish something great for she is relatively coy and sensitive to minor changes in her body . The main barrier obstructing from women achieving such a great enterprise is whether they have the insight and determination to overcome those social conventions .

Post-heaven qi is the embodiment of pre-heaven qi in this world : living and non-living things. I emphasize on qi in living things here: humans, animals and plants . Once qi realized itself , it becomes complicated and having morphic , spatial , time and level characteristics: The spatial and time characteristics is expressed by qi running in 20 meridians of our body in different periods of time in a day /month. In case of other animals ,say an elephant , because of having a physical form different from humans, we can expect that the spatial distribution of its meridians different from us ; An octopus living in deep sea , for example , its meridians will be much different from human beings. Regarding the time factor : Full moon seems affects most animals , especially their reproductive activities. Midnight is also a time we have to pay attention to...these show us the complicated relation between jing and qi... As we know, applying acupuncture to veterinary is a newly developing area ; applying acupuncture to vegetable and plants is more challenging . Levels and layers: Qi exists in different layers of human body : Some exists just outside our skin, acting as an unseen shield against diseases ; Some in blood vessels as driving force , some in our organs..etc; In TCM, dealing with bad /good qi at different levels of our body is a practical issue , for example, we have "evil qi " at Tai Yang, Shao Yang, Tai Yin , Shao Yin levels..etc Qi as different liquid forms: jing, blood, sweat, tears ..,Jing( sperm) as the concentrated form , is the most important one we have to pay attention to .In TCM , capable of identifying the metamorphism of qi in various forms enables a doctor gives treatment to symptoms quicker . Post-heaven qi is the target of TCM and Acupuncture doctors; pre-heaven is the target of Qi gong and Taoist masters . Only by getting rid of all spatial ,time, morphic characteristics of post-heaven qi , its limitations on our mind , can we return to the pre-heaven status , a panacea for most fundamental problems an individual faces in life .

There are three possibilities that lead people to Taoist truth of immortality : 1) Wisdom : You are very intelligent , one out of ten thousands. You always have some insight on life that other smart guys do not have . or 2) Your previous karma : you finished half or part of your cultivation in past life; in that case , soon after your coming to adolescence in this life , you always sense something you know you have not completed . And, later in your life , no matter how pretty a wife you are married to or how much money you earn, you know your life is incomplete , something there is alway missing ....which soon or later lead you to Taoism . or 3) Fortune: You have done lot of good things for people ,the accumulated fortune leads you to it .

The traditional saying is : Practicing kung fu without nourishing gong ( qi gong) at the same time , in the end when you get old, all your effort becomes futile (鍊拳不鍊功 , 到老一塲空) . It implies that if a guy nourish qi right from the beginning with those postures, he , even in his 80's , can still beat several young guys with ease . Similar to its role in qi gong , Dan Tian plays an important part in kung fu

To : White Tiger Thanks a lot for your understanding . In fact , I only translate what I learn from the Chinese Taoist writings into English . Of course , I do have some practice , otherwise, I dare not so firmly preach something that is incorrect and may lead others to disaster.

I am the only stupid , stubborn guy on this forum who repeatedly mention these two issues (immortality and free of aging) ; maybe others are more interested in gaining supernatural power or opening the 3rd eye through their practice , however, I have to ask : What purposes of your cultivation if it is unable to solve these fundamental ones ? Taoism is the most "arrogant" system in this world for it declares straight that after having mastered Tao and qi , we can overcome the destiny imposed on us by nature ( In fact , it is just the " post-heaven " nature which most people blindly think that they have thousands of reasons succumb to )

Taoism does emphasize karma . Without some kind of karma in the past, no matter how miserable your present life is , you never think of searching for and then come across Taoism . Even you do come across it , you never understand it . Even you understand it, you never confide in it to the extent of a very powerful force that can solve the fundamental ( or ontological) issues of your life. This is the reason why so many educated , very smart guys laugh at Taoism when they are told about the Taoist truth of immortality and free of aging.

While Dao Zhen is wandering , meditating and rising on the high mountains among cloud , wind and moonlight like a half-immortal , I am still foolishly living among the crowd on the ground ...thinking of it makes me a little upset . Anyway, wish him success .

With needles skilfully manipulated in our hands , we can initiate qi, the post-heaven type , to cure many diseases ; on the other hand , solely by using our spiritual power, without any help of material means , taoist qi gong enables us initiate not only the post-heaven qi , but pre-heaven type to cure , explore and conquer ; Initiating post-heaven qi can cure most diseases, however seldom can it eliminate cancers or AIDS , not to speak of reversing aging. Pre-heaven qi ,on the other hand, can nearly do everything for us , the only thing that can limit it is our imagination and prejudices.

In order to return to the pre-Heaven "priviledged " status , what we have to do is recovering what we had lost before in reverse order step by step : First , Stop releasing of jing ( or blood , in female case ) . Then , Stop lung- breathing . Both are related to what we understand Dan Tian is .