liminal_luke

Smashing Jewish philosophy, ethics, and religious practices is pretty much par for the course among all the Jews I know, so I figure Jesus was in very good company.

I totally get why someone might be more drawn to YiGong and Sifu Jenny Lamb´s presentation than Max´s Kunlun. If you do go ahead and learn Yigong though and you find it beneficial it might be good to remember that you probably never would of heard of the teaching without Max. It was Max´s charismatic and controversial style that put the practice on the map here at Taobums. Liminal

Kunlun is Max´s version of a practice he got from Sifu Jenny Lamb called Yi Gong. They are basically the same thing, but Max adds other practices (such as Red Phoenix) to make his "system." If you buy Jenny Lamb´s self healing dvd you get the basic Yi Gong practice plus warm up exercises to do before and energy integration exercises to do after. If you decide to go with either presentation, I´d just concentrate on the practice itself. I´ve done it on and off, not for months on end, but have only had good experiences with it. There´s a lot of dramatic commentary pro and con but nothing compares with your own experience. Liminal

I´d say narrow-mindedness in general is the problem, and neither Christians nor non-Christians seem to have a monopoly.

In general, as far as Christianity goes, I´m not a fan. The thing is though, they aren´t all the same. Approaches to Christianity vary as widely as, um, approaches to Taoism. Sure, some people are simply narrow minded, but there is a thread of mystical sophistication that runs through the tradition as well and should not be discounted. Liminal

Brian, If you´d like to, I´d be interested to hear in more detail what you find objectionable about the Office of Population Affairs. My own observation is that the name has a certain chillingly ominous ring. As though they were intent on modifying how people decide or don´t decide to give birth in some malacious way. I´m not sure if that´s really the case though. I did read one of their policy guideline papers on HIV testing. They were advocating what they called opt-out testing--in other words, members of the population in question could "opt-out" of being tested but if they choose not to the test was automatic. If you believe that it´s in everybodies interest to know their HIV status then the policy makes a certain sense but it does seem a little nefariously manipulative. I would prefer to receive all medical tests and treatment on an opt-in basis. Liminal

I believe there was a comment about bland diets by Kevin Wallbridge (sorry if I´ve got your handle wrong) over on the "What do acupuncturists think about coffee" thread in the "healthy bums" section.

north star = perfect integration of yin and yang attributes

Being a genius is kinda like being rich. If you´re rich some people will automatically think you´re a good person, some people will automatically think you´re bad. The truth is rich has nothing to do with good and bad. Rich is just rich -- and genius is just genius.

It would be so much more convenient if the good people were all good, and the bad people all bad. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.

In general, spiritual cultivation practices, including semen retention, should make life better. Relationships with others should be easier, smoother, imbued with positive qualities such as love and compassion. There might well be times along the way where this isn´t the case, but if something a person is doing is consistently making life worse, relationships worse...well, that would be something to look at. I´d suggest investing some face time with a teacher. Taking up a specific practice slowly and patiently. You can be a "strong willed warrior" for sure, but there´s no great hurry. Go gently.

That´s interesting because your practice -- well, your willingness to share about it anyway -- is also helping me connect with the source of creativity. Just yesterday I signed up for the ligmincha online creativity workshop. It´s just now beginning but I´m excited about the practice.

I suggest all would-be emperors and empresses rule over The Tao Bums for a spell as a kind of dry run. Perhaps it´s my overly accommodating personality, but I´d be happy to have Taomeow, Aetherous or Brian take the helm. In my opinion, Brian´s decrees, off-the-cuff or no, are likely to be well thought out and fair-minded. Taomeow´s kingdom would be run with fierce feline intelligence. I´m sure it would work out well in the end, and only hope I make the cut when it comes time to separate the "true humans" from various imposters. I´d like to live in the world that remains after her swift justice. TheLearner´s approach seems a tad more self-serving but, why not, he too gets my vote. Liminal

And cheaper as well. The "simi" pharmacies, selling generics, usually have a doctors office attached. You just go in and wait your turn, and the appointment costs about $4. I once went to a similar doctor associated with a pharmacy in Mexico city that offered free doctors appointments. It felt weird getting such service free of charge, so I offered to pay but he turned me down. Specialists cost a bit more. I recently paid about $40 to see an endocronologist. This was after getting some blood work at the lab around the corner. Two hours after getting my blood drawn I picked up the results. I haven´t gotten any labwork done in the states for years, but think this is pretty speedy. Especially considering it´s Mexico where almost nothing else seems to happen fast.

Oh I dunno. For the record, I´m "pro" Healing Tao. I´m also pro Kunlun/Yi Gong, another a system of spontaneous qigong that, like Healing Tao, has its proponents and also plenty of detractors. It´s easy to put lots of energy into deciding what to practice -- and that´s important, sure -- but it´s equally important to focus on how. People that mess themselves up with Healing Tao or Kunlun, etc (and go on to consider those paths bad) might have had a better experience if they approached the practice differently. Healing Tao is huge. One person might concentrate on developing a meditation practice of smiling to the inner organs in the morning, and doing 15 minutes of healing sounds at night. Another might start by packing chi in iron shirt, holding the breath till red in the face, and spending lots of time trying to "retain" sexually aroused energy. Both of these practitioners might consider themselves followers of the "Healing Tao" but their experiences will be very different.

One way of getting the spontaneous movement is through David Bercelli´s "Trauma Release Exercises." If you do a search, there are past threads detailing people´s experience with them. Recommended.

I think most people find "up" easier. I certainly do. Maybe because we have more energetic blockages in the abdomen and pelvis. And some people find the "dirtiness" of the earth distasteful, and prefer to rocket directly to heaven. Eventually however, issues related to the earth plane -- issues that tend to lodge in the lower centers and prevent easy connection with the ground -- need to be resolved.

Good point OldChi. I think there´s often this fascination with the upper centers (upper dan tien, crown, third eye) that can be counterproductive. Many people want to work with those energies before they are ready, in a way that´s out of balance, without having resolved the more pesky physical issues lower down in the body first. Trunk outlines a "LDT method", presently on the second page of the general forum, which works explicitly with the lower energies, and would be a good corrective practice, in my opinion, for this tendency to only want to go "up."

Sometimes knowing what did or didn´t happen matters. Like say for legal reasons, or sociological reasons. Or in making decisions about child care, etc. At other times, however, focusing on history can be a detour. Regardless of past circumstances, one has to pick themselves up and deal with reality as it´s presenting itself right now. If a person feels bad, for whatever reason, a useful approach is to focus on dealing with the emotions. It doesn´t matter, in a sense, how accurate the story that goes with the emotions is. What´s undeniable is the present day suffering, and that´s what has to be dealt with.

We´re all so different. I believe "semen retention" can be a useful practice, but context is important. It´s not good for everybody at all times. Judging from what you wrote it sounds like right now it´s doing you more harm than good. I´d back off a little, concentrate on other aspects of cultivation -- you can always come back to this later. What are you drawn to in spiritual practice, apart, I mean, from the semen retention? There are movement practices like tai chi and bagua. Standing practice. All kinds of sitting meditation. Ideally, I´d find something you can do with other people. Take a class. The whole semen retention thing can be very alluring -- believe me I know -- but it isn´t everything or even the most important thing and certainly not the first place to start. You can get very far finding a class in a spiritual discipline and seeing where it takes you. Semen retention will be there for you at some point down the line if it´s the right thing. Liminal

I like to think of myself as intelligent enough but I haven´t the foggiest what this debate is about. Hopefully following this conversation is not a prerequisite for developing myself as a qi gong/taoist meditation enthusiast. Liminal

Hi Oneironaut, Yes, not only can they be combined but I´d say that´s how they work best. The way I learned was to take at least a few moments after each sound to smile to the associated organ/ organ system. I´m not sure what the party line is on how long to do them, but I think there´s wide latitude for experimentation. The inner smile, in particular, is a beginning level practice (though it morphs into an advanced practice), and it´s hard to mess yourself up very much sending your organs love and acceptance. I would say to do it as long as you like. Experiment and see what works for you. Liminal

Whether it´s necessarily "better" or not is open to debate but in general Mexicans are... more closely connected to the place they were born maintain closer contact with family cook less processed food (also, more offal) more creative in terms of handicrafts, other arts more likely to dance as part of family celebrations kids more able to entertain themselves without technology more encouraging of gringos who don´t speak Spanish than gringos are of Mexicans who don´t speak English more likely to drop in on friends/family unannounced

I think °everyone° should do something moving and something still. Some self-massage or stretching. Everyone should consider the way other areas of life -- diet, exercise, work, relationships -- interplay with spiritual practice and consider making changes as necessary.

I think the most obvious place to look for help is with your Korean teacher. Years ago, I met a guy who practiced a system with a strong taboo against mixing practices. Being a spiritually adventurous sort, he did anyway and ended up in somewhat of an energetic pickle as a result. He didn´t want to seek help from his teachers because this would mean coming clean about breaking the taboo. Not sure if this has anything to do with your situation, but in these cases I´d recommend just laying it all out on the table and getting advice from the people who are in the best position to give it -- the teachers.