liminal_luke

Carbonbreath, You´ve received a chorus of replies (mine among them) urging you to stay away. Sounds like you´re taking the advice to heart. I´m very glad. Still, as a man-loving fellow on the verge of my old gay years, I´d like to clarify my opinión a bit so as not to inadvertently perpetuate the destructive "dirty old man" stereotype. There´s nothing wrong with being old. There´s nothing wrong with being old and gay. There´s nothing wrong with being fat, old, and gay. There´s nothing wrong with being fat, sick, old, and gay. There´s not even anything wrong with being a fat, old, sick, gay guy who finds handsome much younger men, perhaps like yourself, sexually desirable. There´s everything wrong when anyone tries to parlay alledged knowledge or abilities into sexual favors. Liminal

You´re gut is telling you to stay away so listen to your gut. Let him find someone who actually wants to have sex with him, rather than trying to exploit people looking for spiritual help. That kind of "help" you don´t need. Liminal

I agree that the lands were taken illegally. So much pain around this. Still. That said, I don´t think rounding up everybody who has herpes or whatnot and sending them off to Europe is the answer. Perhaps a topic better suited for "Off Topic." Liminal

I´m 49. Not quite there, but sense peace and contentment sneaking up on me. Liminal

My take. Self-development often proceeds unevenly and in an idiosyncratic manner, in a way that reflects a particular person´s talents, interests, and history. When we value a certain aspect, it´s easy to believe that someone who isn´t acomplished in our pet area of interest couldn´t possibly be acomplished in some other way. And that´s just not true. And so we get...authentic mystics who act out in sexually inappropriate ways, fat unathletic healers, people with boundless compassion and sucky tai chi...and on and on. The takeaway lesson? When looking for a teacher I don´t demand all-around perfection. As long as the teacher has something I´d like more of in my life I´m good. Liminal

Nikolai1 is an extremely judgemental person who lacks inquisitiveness, and needs therapy. Lth spouts hippie bullshit. Idiot stimpy is likely autistic. And clearly I´m not so hot myself. Oh well. Liminal

Owledge, You were upset by something that happened in the real world. So you posted about it here at Taobums. And got lots of feedback posts. Among them some high quality responses. But you seem very disgruntled by almost everyone, offended by even very gentle critiques of your point of view. Seeing as all the perceived conflict is swirling around you, it might be helpful to consider if you have any part in generating it. Liminal

Edited out the snide parts which (opps!) turned out to be the whole thing. Liminal

Yes, everybodies experience is different. I thought maybe you were basing your thoughts on just a visit or two, but if you´ve lived there you know what´s it´s like for you. Liminal

I despise the city of Portland for its 9 months continual rain and for the totally ungrounded, etheric, vapid and impractical population of "spiritual people" it attracts to itself. Yasjua I lived in Portland for several decades and none of my friends are anything like you describe. Well, maybe a few. Portland´s not exactly a metrópolis, but it´s population is too big to fit neatly into the popular stereotype; rest assured, plenty of grounded practical people live in Portland. You are right about the rain though. Liminal

Do eagles fly high? My heads been down so long now I don´t remember...

Hi Gabrielnb, I don´t know about Ji Ben Qigong, but, while not an expert, I feel confident that vipassana and zazen couldn´t hurt. I know for a fact that other Kunlun practitioners have combined Kunlun with vipassana and felt that the combination was particularly fruitful. Sifu Jenny Lamb, who Max originally learned what he calls Kunlun from, is a Buddhist and says that Yi Gong/Kunlun practiced without awareness isn´t really the practice. Something like vipassana, which is all about awareness in my understanding, should help, not hurt. You might ask a teacher of course, but thought I´d share my perspective. Liminal

For what it´s worth, Juan Li, a senior healing tao instructor, used to teach a weekend workshop in Dream Yoga. Not sure if he still does. Not that that proves it´s a traditional practice or anything. Taoist practice is vast, and it´s hard for me to imagine sleep and dream practices aren´t a part of it somewhere. Afterall, sleeping and dreaming are part of the human experience. I´d think that at a certain point, regardless of the spiritual path followed, consciousness illuminates that part of our lives. Not because someones allegiance is to Taoism, Buddhism, Yoga or what have you, but because that´s the natural trajectory of spiritual development. Liminal

Loved the link Gerard. As extreme measures go, one could do worse, in my opinion, than an intensive silent Buddhist retreat in a natural setting. One need not even be overtly dedicated to Buddhism per se to benefit from something like vipassana. A willingness to confront oneself deeply in a quiet beautiful place while paying excruciating attention to the breath for hours on end is, in my admittedly limited experience, the only requirement. Less painful than getting ones balls cut off, though I´m sure some retreatents might beg to differ. Liminal

Hi Flofilil, Recently heard a quote that might be apropo to your situation: "Everythiing is about sex, except sex." The mystery of our attractions runs very deep indeed, and is tangled up in the most profound --and usually hidden--reaches of our selves. For a fascinating, and helpful, exploration of the way this happens I love Jack Morin´s book, The Erotic Mind. I´m not very optimistic that someone here will be able to give you the key to turning off your sexuality, and even less convinced it would be a good thing if they could. Which is maybe a jerk comment given how much pain you´re in. I get that you want the feelings to go away, and certainly something needs to change, but I just fear that radical sledgehammer approaches to that end would end up doing more harm than good. Obviously more is going on than would be appropriate to go into here at Taobums. Have you gotten in-person professional support from someone who specializes in this? Liminal

pissing on a post unforgivable blunder or innocent chat?

I´m reminded of the following quote... “I blame the daffodils. Who wants to hear summery sounds while they’re in prison? Who wants to hear summery sounds even when they’re free. Not me. I hate summer. The same old outings, happy people going on long-planned holidays. Children sucking ice-cream, pregnant women wearing blousey dresses. Why can’t it be winter the whole year round. Do we really need summer?” June Gibbons

That what a practice feels like the first week you do it is different from what it will feel like after a month, a year.

Awww, Marblehead. I´m sure you don´t need anybody to send you any negativity; just change your perspective, and you'll have plenty. The rest of us don´t have any difficulty being negative so I imagine you´ll get the hang of it. Perhaps you´re just out of practice?. Liminal

Is Chinese Medicine a career with spiritual integrity? My opinion. If you practice with a sincere desire to help others then yes. If not, then no. Liminal

In my opinion, asking which teacher to go with is a little like asking which treasure you´d like to buy next for your personal collection, the hope diamond or a gold mask from Tutankhamun´s tomb--you´d be very lucky either way. Sifu Jenny Lamb´s video has enough material to last a lifetime. Myself, I would never hesitate to buy and practice from it even if you can never meet her in person. It contains the basic practice that Max teaches as the first level of Kunlun (Max says it´s not the same as what he teaches but I´ve learned both and don´t see the difference myself) plus routines to practice before and after the spontaneous movement. Highly recommended. Max is Max. Beloved by many though by no means all. He´s a charismatic character with a personal style that might or might not mesh with yours. I´ve benefitted a lot from Kunlun, but some do have safety concerns. If you get a chance to study with him, I´d go for it. I´m not so familiar with Dragon Gate material, but believe that Quan Yin Magnetic Qigong is the Sifu Matsuo practice that most closely corresponds to Kunlun/ Yigong. I´ve only done just a little but wow--very powerful indeed. There´s a thread on it so you might look it up if this appeals. In the DVD of Quan Yin Magnetic Qigong Sifu Matsuo talks about the dangers of approaching the practice in an obsessive way. Words of wisdom there. In my opinion, any of these practices can take you as far as you´re willing to go. Any of these practices can be misused and cause harm if not approached with sensitivity, listening to your body, knowing your limits. Liminal

This doesn´t go exactly to your question perhaps, but my sense is that there is infinite space "outside" the body, and infinite space "inside" the body. The more facility a person has to go out, the more facility a person has to go in, and vice versa. Liminal

Students who demand perfection of their teachers on every level (harmonious personal relationships, charging very reasonably for teachings yet not suffering financially, humble yet authoritative) have a long search ahead of them. Many have noted Michael Winn´s less than exemplary body mechanics. So what? I wouldn´t learn martial arts from him but it would be a mistake to conclude he has nothing to offer. Master Chia got a divorce. Yawn. I´ve learned so much over the years from people with great spiritual refinement and (sometimes) lousy personal lives. Liminal

I'm interested in working with my breath more, and wondering if anybody has any breath pacer recommendations, either stand alone devices or an app. Already have a Resperate but find it cumbersome to use. Is there something out there with sound cues (so that I don't need to be looking at a screen) and very customizable in terms of breaths per minute? Thanks, Liminal

Practitioners of Michael Winn´s version of primordial tai chi might be interested in this video of him showing refinements of the movements. It might be old news for some but I´d never seen it before, and found the changes fairly dramatic. I don´t know how to embed youtube videos but search "Michael Winn Corrections" and you´ll find it. Liminal