liminal_luke

It´s OK, lessdaomorebum. I´m not trying to trick you or say you´re shallow. We just disagree about what sex is, that is all. You look at it in a more material way, as a physical act. I agree that it´s a physical act, it´s just that I think that it´s a physical act with energetic consequences. Probably I see it that way because of my "pseudo-spiritual belief system." Can we stop here? I think our viewpoints are pretty far apart and neither of us is likely to much influence the other.

That´s not a very nuanced reply. Oh well...

Here´s the question I ask myself and would ask you: what is sex? Is there a difference -- interpersonally, energetically, spiritually -- between a hand shake and a hand job? I think there is. I´m willing to shake hands with almost anybody who cares to, and am much more selective about who touches my genitals. There are people who don´t make this distinction, people who allow anybody to touch them any ole way. To me, that´s sad. Not because I think such indiscriminate people are hell-bent sinners -- I don´t think that -- but because I think something awful must of happened to them in the past, and that one of the symptoms of that something awful is promiscuity.

Oh, it´s so easy to fall into the trap of the moral scold. And I can see how you´d interpret my post that way, Lessdaomorebum, but that´s not what I meant. My post talked about fragmentation and integration, not good and bad. And, for the record, I´m not anywhere near total confidence in my position. This is an area where I´m very much still learning. Perhaps there are circumstances where sex between strangers is a healthy (integrative) thing for all concerned. Some of my friends claim that that´s their experience, but I dunno -- I retain a bit of agnostic doubt. What I know for certain is that sometimes when strangers have sex, it doesn´t turn out so great. Sometimes it´s really not like being seated with someone you don´t know at a restaurant. Not even close.

Hi Taoway, You might find this book helpful: The Qigong Workbook for Anxiety, by Kam Chuen Lam. https://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Workbook-Anxiety-Practices-Rebalance/dp/1608829499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473961698&sr=8-1&keywords=anxiety+and+qi+

In a sense, it doesn´t really matter what the rules are for chat. It could be a cyber-brothel adjunct (phrasing courtesy of A&P), a hotbed of kundalini awakening, or a place for casual conversation about pizza and politics (phrasing courtesy of Jeff). It all works as long as the Bums who like said activity use it, and the Bums who don´t choose to stay out. Not so long ago we didn´t have a chat room. Now we do. I´ve never wanted to chat so I don´t. But for those with a more chatty disposition, the addition is all for the good. .

What counts as energy work? Sure, there´s moving energy around with your intent but what about everything else. Like breathing. Or movement or drinking a cup of tea. Energy is always moving; whether or not that´s work is up to you.

We´re all in such different places around the question of energy work between people here, and I think it´s helpful just to chill out and let other people do their thing. Some thoughts... Bums who do energy work in chat are neither more nor less spiritually evolved than Bums who choose not to. Bums that try energy work in chat and find that it´s negative for them are neither more nor less spiritually evolved than Bums who try it and have a positive experience. If a Bum has a negative experience during an energy exchange, that does not necessarily mean that there´s anything wrong with the Bum on the other side of the exchange.

Just to clarify...what you want to know is whether people do energy work/cultivation, work that might be their own personal practice and not discussed on the board? Or, do you want to know if people engage in intentional energetic interaction with members here, ie giving or receiving healings, transmissions, sharing presence, astral sex...etc?

Sexuality is Spiritual. But we live in a culture that judges sex and punishes it´s natural expression. We´ve tried, unsuccessfully, to push sexuality into the shadows but it just keeps bubbling up. (Thank God too, because if it did not bubble up we´d be in even worse shape.) As it is, the sexual impulse that emerges out of the shadow often lacks the spiritual purity it had before it was suppressed. Suppressed sex bubbles up in a deranged form, bubbles up chemically bonded with shame and rage, splintered off from love and affection. And this we don´t need. So what to do. How do we honor our sexual selves, the rightness of this strong and basic impulse, when we´re so mixed up? Can we say YES to sex and NO to rape, child molestation, human trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and unwanted catcalling of young women on the street? I don´t know. I don´t even know what to say no to. Maybe prostitution isn´t always bad? Maybe there are sacred whores healing whose job it is to heal this pathological division of the soul? Maybe some pornography is beautiful and good? I really don´t have the slightest idea.

How about for rheumatoid arthritis flare ups. Useful there? Thanks.

Maybe there´s another "Gods Playing In the Clouds." The one I know is from Michael Winn, a movement practice to get people into the groove of Lesser Kan & Li. But that´s probably not the one you´re thinking of -- or is it?

The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things. Rainer Maria Rilke

What a pity. To me, Jing of Tranquility sounds soothing and feminine in the best way, like water tripping gently over smooth stone. Perhaps it should be redubbed Jing of Misogony: The Ancient Chinese Roots of the Coming Nuclear Holocaust.

Cyber-brothel adjunct...I love that phrasing. I apologize if my attempts at humor in the Sexcapades thread or elsewhere stuck you as inappropriately bawdy. When it comes to sexual energy and such, I´m very much a new soul I´m afraid. At least metaphorically, if not literally. It´s so surprising to me that people would think to get into sexually provocative conversations in chat. There are so many other better places for that kind of thing in cyberspace. Liminal

Hi Jeff, Thanks for sharing your point of view. And I´m mostly agreed with you about leaving it open as long as there´s consent. Perhaps limiting it to private chats or private group chats (does such a thing exist?) so that people that just want more mundane chatter can do so easily in general chat. Of course, it´s possible for someone to give their consent and still end up getting hurt. People do all kinds of harmful things to themselves with their own consent -- eat junk food, smoke crack, gamble away all their money -- but what can you do? If we don´t have the freedom to hurt ourselves, we have no freedom at all. What´s this about banning yourself from chat? You´ll do as you see fit, of course, but I think that if you want to chat, you should chat. I don´t care how powerful your energy is, the chat room ought to be open for all. Jesus Christ himself could come down from above, and if Marblehead determines he´s not a spammer and accepts his application, he ought to be able to chat about pizza and politics just the same as anybody else. Why not? If someone is bothered by the divine vibes, I figure that´s their problem. I don´t think the Daobums is about any one thing. We´re all different and this place means something different to each of us. Some people love to debate politics in the Off Topic area and that´s about it. Others might want to participate in energetic exchanges in the chat area. As for myself, I find this website a great resource for finding out about potential practices. Right now both my partner and I are working with a Zapchen practitioner through Skype. I found out about the possibility of doing so through another Bum. Thanks for your reply. LIminal

Jeff, I´m not certain as we haven´t talked about it specifically, but I gather from the conversation that you are someone who does energy work/ transmissions with people. Is that true? If so, I wonder if you´d be willing to share your opinion here? (I get that you´d like to keep the conversation broad and not focused specifically on your group.) Do you think energy work between members should be allowed in Daobums. If so, where? General chat? Private chat? What safegaurds should be put in place to make such work safe for all involved?

Sometimes it´s not easy to say whether an energy is helpful or not. Take the case of Kunlun. People have all sorts of different experiences depending perhaps on how they practice and who they were before they started. (1) Some say there´s no snake energy and it´s great. (2) Some say that yes there´s snake energy but that´s a good thing. (3) Some say there´s snake energy and it´s crazy scary bad. Spiritual practice often pushes up against our blocks, against our shadow. And then there´s the issue of trauma brought up by BES. People can reexperience their traumas. Whether or not this is ultimately a good thing is very individual. I don´t know anything about the Light Group but perhaps some issues are similar. Sometimes a good transmission doesn´t necessarily feel good all along the way: Growing pains happen. Then again, not everybody wants to go the healing crisis route. Some aren´t ready for that.

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Not a fan of chat here either. I like composing my posts at leisure in the main areas of the board, and I´m a big editor -- something I couldn´t do in chat. Chat seems like it would provide more connection but it´s this weird in-between place for me, somehow too intimate and not enough all at once. A member once posted pictures of his home and a conversation got started about drinking mint juleps or some such on his veranda. That would be nice. Until then I think I´ll stick to my normal post writing.

Perhaps not, but I do. If people want to share protection 101 strategies in another thread, I´d be interested to read it.

And why would you want to? I personally love hanging out with awesomely powerful people and am glad to share this forum with you, with Jeff, and with all the others dynamic characters onboard. You know what they say: if you can´t stand the heat, get out of the nuclear reactor. We can´t legislate vibration. At least not the unintentional kind. The Daobums ought to be a place that rolls out the welcome mat for all that want to discuss what´s discussed here, be they immortal or satanically possessed. It´s all good until somebody calls someone else an asshole and then the mods can come in and do their thing. Unintentional transmission must be allowed no matter how noxious or heavenly the source. Things only get tricky, in my view, when we´re taking about intentional transmission. In that case the transmitter has a responsibility to inform the transmittee of potential risks and benefits and to put up safegaurds to protect innocent bystanders. If the transmitter lacks the skills to do so, they shouldn´t be transmitting.

Good points, Apech. I offered what I did out of personal experience (ahum), but realize full well that it´s a big world out there and there´s more to sex and sexual energy than I know. As far as the policy here at Daobums goes, I stand by my original post -- if there´s informed consent between two consenting adults and the exchange doesn´t interfere with the quiet enjoyment of other Bums, I think it should be allowed. Everybody knows that it´s prudent to wear a seat belt while riding in a moving vehicle. In Oregon, where I used to live, you could be fined for not wearing one. Here in Mexico, where I live now, you can ride dangerously if you like. I like Mexico better.

People have astral sex with strangers for the same reason that they have physical sex with strangers, for the same reason that they might gamble or eat chocolate chip cookies or buy too many shoes: because sometimes, when life has really knocked you around, fragmentation feels safer than integration.

Good point. We are always sharing energy, usually unconsciously, whether we want to or not. And sometimes that energy is sexual. But it´s one thing to simply be who you are, emitting your particular vibration in a natural way. Another thing to consciously set out to create an energetic happening in someone else with directed intention. Nothing can or should be done about the ordinary vibrational mixing that´s going to happen whether we like it or not, simply because that´s how things work. Intentional energy work is something else.