liminal_luke

I think that´s right on the mark Steve. Yesterday, I was struck by something Sillybearhappyhoneyeater said in the midst of a very technical thread about opening up meridians. He said that Taoism was about kindness. Who knew?

Horus, Do you practice Kunlun/Yi Gong? If so, I´d be interested to know your experience and opinion of the practice -- if you feel like sharing. Liminal

I´m not sure what to say about your experience, but the preparation is the fusion practice. Have you done much fusion? If you´re having insomnia I´d go back to healing sounds, and see if that helps.

Sorry you´ve been in some tough places lately, both with the harassment and the diabetes. I´ve been bullied for my sexual orientation as well, and I wasn´t so mindful as you´ve been thinking about it afterwards. I think you´ll have good results with the low-carb diet. Liminal

You can´t have security in the sense people usually mean. For most people security means never losing their money, never losing their health, never having the people they love die or leave them. Sometimes people feel this kind of security, but it´s built on a shaky foundation because none of these things are sure. But here´s what you can do: Build a kind of unshakable inner peace so that you can lose your money, your health, even the people you love...and you know you´ll still be OK. Liminal

I´m sure people with more experience than I will step in to correct me, but this is how I see the process of using post heaven qi gong qi to open the orbit. Yes, when one initially goes about visualizing the orbit and circulating the pearl up and down, what´s being circulated is post heaven qi. Initially the orbit is about yin and yang. Up and down. Front and back. Here´s the thing though: eventually all this back and forth circulation activates the center. Eventually it activates neutral energy. Changelessness. Deep silence. Stillness. And at this point things switch from post-heaven to pre-heaven. A person can start with a post-heaven practice and end up in a pre-heaven place. Liminal

I second the idea of moving meditation. Isn´t there a Spring Forest movement specifically for this? I think even a video on youtube? Even if you decide to go ahead and try some sort of visualization/energy leading technique (which many people discourage although I´ve never had any problems), movement is a very safe and powerful adjunctive practive. Liminal

I don´t know, but some of my most powerful experiences have come from increasing the time I did something. If I do Kunlun for two hours, the second hour is way more powerful/interesting than the first. Ditto for just about any meditation I´ve tried this with. I think if you want extreme experience you´ve got to approach it in an extreme way. Part of this, is about overcoming obstacles aka blocks. If you stop when you hit a block, you´ll never know what´s on the other side. Take anything and keep going past the point of comfort and things get a little wild. Unlike you, I´ve never been to Burning Man, but I bet some people have blissful experiences there. (Along, of course, with a whole lot of distinctly less than blissful experiences.) I think this is because going to Burning Man is such an extreme thing to do. Just deciding to go burns through resistance and blocks. People challenge themselves and find out who they are way out of their comfort zone, an experience that is often blissful. Just some thoughts.... Liminal

Nah. I prefer to confine my frivolous battling to internet forums. An actual court appearance would be too stressful.

If your money has to go to somebody´s bonus, you´d prefer if they were thin? Fat people need the occasional financial break too. Ok, rant over. (Hmmm...considering editing out my post. I don´t want to be curmudgeonly or critical. And perhaps you were merely being descriptive: was the officer who gave you the ticket fat? I just wanted to point out the little insidious ways negativity against people whose appearance we don´t like slips in.)

Bliss is great and all, but why not set your sights a little lower? May I suggest aiming for pleasure. Pleasure seeking, while arguably a lower calling, has it´s advantages. It doesn´t arouse the evil eye of spiritual purists who prefer to see bliss as on unsought for side effect. Because the high from pleasure is not so intense, you´re less likely to experience a "dark night" style rebound into depression and other hellish emotional states. Mostly though, pleasure is just plain easier to come by. To experience pleasure just pay attention. No need to do anything different at all. Feel the sand squish between your toes. Savor the crunch of the garlic bread. Smell the morning coffee. And who knows, while your soaking in all the pleasure available in the course of a normal day you might just experience a moment or two of bliss as well. Hey, what can I say: Bliss happens. Liminal

Find an activity you are passionate about and devote yourself to it.

Here´s something you might try. It comes out of a book called Wired for Joy by Laurel Mellin. When you´re feeling really bad simply repeat these three phrases over and over. I will not judge myself or others. Things may be bad, but I won´t do anything to make it worse. This too shall pass. I´m paraphrasing the phrases a little, but if you want to know more you can buy the book. The idea is that when we are really stressed out we tend to be judgmental -- both of ourselves and others -- which doesn´t help. We tend to do things to make the situation worse like go into addictions or make rash decision. We don´t believe the situation will ever change. These phrases counteract these tendencies and can get us to a better place. It sounds corny, I know, but in my experience it works. Liminal

double post

If I thought putting out details of my personal life would help, I would. But you seem pretty determined to do what you´ve decided to do. Personally, I love the idea of being able to share something and having somebody else take my advice to heart. Almost everybody loves that. But it´s not gonna happen this time, unfortunately. Oh well. Maybe some other thread.

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I haven´t checked it out personally, but my mother-in-law tells me that when people in nearby Fresnillo are hungry for mice -- or, more accurately, "country rat" -- they don´t have to catch them. They just go to the market.

Thanks Taomeow. You just cured me.

Putting aside, for now, the issue of whether or not the MCO is a valuable meditation -- in general, short but frequent practice trumps an occasional marathon session. That said, longer sessions can be very instructive. The best way to find out about this is not to ask strangers on the internet. The best way to find out is to try it. Try meditating twice as long as usual. What happens?

Well, the honest answer has little to do with nutrition in general and even less to do with soda, but, since you asked, here goes. Put simply: I like to be right. Like many others, I can get a little entrenched in my opinions and hold on tight -- arguably a little too tight -- when they are challenged. You might think vegetarians would be a peaceful bunch, but at least some of them like a good fight. Just like me. Sometimes they say bad things about bacon, which I happen to like. Sometimes they post disturbing videos online suggesting that people who don´t follow their diet are immoral. Paleo diets may be catching on, but when most people think healthy they think vegetarian. Still. It´s annoying. It would be easier, for me personally, if the evidence clearly showed that everybody needs animal protein to live. Unfortunately, while I believe that many people, most people, do better on a diet that includes some meat, nutritional science is very complicated. Different people need different things. Just as some people do better, at least for a time, on ketosis, some people really do better as vegetarians. I don´t like it, but I believe it to be true.

VonKrankenhaus, You ask if people are healthy on a ketogenic diet or an Atkins type diet for years. Some people probably are, but I don´t think this is a useful question. Our bodies change and our diets need to change in turn if we are to maintain optimum health. It´s a little like Chinese herbs. The herb that´s perfect for me today probably isn´t something that I would want to take for life. The ketogenic diet is a tool that´s appropriate for certain people at certain times. It can be useful in weight loss as you suggested. Also for epilepsy, other neurological conditions. It can be useful for some people with diabetes, for some people with cancer. I´m not suggesting everybody with any of these problems go on a ketogenic diet for life. I´m suggesting it´s a great tool for some people in some situations for some period of time. Liminal

Blanket pronouncements about the benfits/risks of particular diets tend to leave out the very important "for whom" part of the equation. Ketogenic diets are very harmful for some, ideal for others. I myself tend to do best on a low-carb paleoesque diet, but am willing to concede that there are people for whom low fat is the better choice. Some people even do well on a vegetarian diet (shudder), though it pains me a little to say so. Liminal

Dreambliss, It´s great that you are working on something and I hope it works out. However: if it doesn´t work out, or it doesn´t work out according to the timetable you´ve set, it´s important to remember that you have options. Not just one final option, as you put it, but options plural. Life goes on, even when things don´t appear to go our way. Or it can anyway, if we allow it. What you are planning now may not happen the way you hope, but that doesn´t mean that all is doomed. There are so many ways to get past the "then what" -- exercise, friends, your spiritual practice, writing, etc -- but if none of this is working for you I suggest seeking out professional mental health services (usually available very cheaply if you look for it). Liminal

Henro, What do you think: can someone without specialized knowledge in Chinese medicine put themselves on the tonic herbs from Dragon Herbs (perhaps after a phone consultation) and not risk messing themselves up energetically? I find Dragon Herbs marketing and reputation very appealing, but am hesitant to take anything long term without having someone knowledgeable actually sit down with me, take my pulse, look at my tongue, etc. Liminal

Being aware of emotions from an unemotional place -- just the right perspective, in my opinion, to allow one to deal in a Taoist way with any enemies, should they unexpectedly make an appearance.