Trunk

Continuing to enjoy the above book, continuing to be impressed. Too early to say that I 'know' anything, yet, lol. Dinner, couple of nights ago I felt decadent and so did what I haven't done in a long time, but used to do more frequently: pastrami special, w/ chili fries and a coke. And I thought to have 1 capsule of each of the amino acid supplements afterward. Now, usually, garunteed, the next morning I'd feel greasy inside and out ... y'know, just kinda yucky that was the hangover part of the 'special'. ... and I'd feel like I had some pastrami & fries still in me the next day ... This time? After taking the amino acids? I felt CLEAN the next day. My skin feels clean. I didn't feel greasy nor heavy at *all*. Impressive. I think that I've gone through most of the extreme results that are often signature of just-starting-something; it's mellowing some. And I have a better sense of what each do, pacing, and dietary complement. Plenty more to learn. Good topic.

@Taomeow, Those are beautiful! I've never seen twisted chopsticks! They look like they feel good! Those are special; thank you for sharing. Any back-story: I'm all ears. - Keith

Just my personal take on this, not that I have a perfect nor classic idea-model of this area, but partly what I've observed (and at least three contradictory ideas that are each important, imho): #1. I think it's important to keep the idea of the integrity of each layer of being, and not generally discard a basic respect for each layer in itself. Someone once said something like, "a problem needs to be solved in the layer it originated in". Build a life that suits you, take realistic care of your human aspect and respect it, etc #2. During some methods (like meditation, etc) you might emphasize a certain layer of being (such as emptiness) as a serious focus and everything subsumes to that during the practice. That's the view, that's the practice. (... and I get that it integrates more with daily life, but ...) And there are pieces of your path where you'll want to emphasize that, a lot maybe... to develop depth and fluency. And, over a person's lifetime, it gets deeper ... no end. So there is that emphasis, that focus, during the practice. There's a phrase in one of Cleary's Taoist books, "manifesting and un-manifesting at will". Merge into The Big Silent One gradually more deeply, more fluently... and be able to put yourself back together with integrity, also. Both of those parts, weave into each other. #3. The Deeper Stuff. Well, if the measure of 'reality' is something like "is it a more foundational, more enduring level of life that we're mindblowingly profoundly part of?" Yeah, well, then I'd kinda say that The Deeper Stuff is more real, lol.

My experience is that once I got the concept of the basic dynamics of what I call the “deep-centers” (specifically, how they integrate with emptiness), then I started seeing that concept in more and more places, … kind of most places. I would suggest that whatever system you’re digging into, it’s there. For instance, if you’re Christian, you can find the Light of Christ in your heart. I guess I want to say a few steps, points, that’ve been helpful along my way … with some pretty strong disclaimers, and encouragement to excavate the classic resources where ever you’re diggin’. Disclaimer: There are whole systems about sequence and if I even start to talk about that what come up in my mind is everything I’ve skipped. Also, it’s extremely difficult to tell what is the right next step for anyone. Geez, I should just pin this sort of disclaimer into my automatic signature, because it applies to my every post. Yeah, so, a few things along the way for me (and skipping a whole lot): - Some training in view and practice of stillness, assumed. - Then there was Healing Tao system introduced idea of the pearl, and I experienced it as nourishing … but *not* as integral with emptiness. I was subtly gently ‘holding’ the nourishment of the pearl, which does have some use but … - The simple Tibetan pith instruction of “enter, abide, dissolve” (though surrounded by an *extremely* ornate system) blew things open for me (conceptually and practically) that the pearl was integral with emptiness and resonated potent points along the central channel … - How to find those potent places (the deep-centers)? They feel like nothing. Like, if you focus on the front of your chest and slowly move your focus back into your heart area there will be layers of feeling … then there is this little still space in the ‘center’ that feels like nothing. *That’s* where the magic happens. The "mysterious pass". The deep-centers can also be found by slowly searching vertically, up and down the center line. Mark Griffin encouraged becoming familiar with "every inch of sushumna". So, those principles dovetail into methods. While *far* from any comprehensive list of what's out there, these are merely a few that jump out at me right now. - The pearl meditation, as described above. - The mani mantra, secret style. Linked from the "enso" essay at my blog. (I think a breathing method linked from there, also). - Kwan Yin Magnetic Qigong I find is one of the more accessible ways to start in on this process. cheers, Keith

There are steps to finding and cultivating the center that are accessible and understandable. There are some in various essays at my free blog https://johndaoproductions.wordpress.com/ It's *not* that there is this high thing that we see but have no access to in our own systems. It can be commonly understood, and accessed incrementally. I've posted more than usual (which was really fun, thanks all) and for now I'm outta gas. "All of my practices promote the center". - Sifu Matsuo and, yup, this phenomena shows up across cultures, across traditions. "The clear bead at the center changes everything. There are no edges to my loving now." - Rumi in Open Secret

"I can live off of a compliment for three days" - Mark Twain My mostly-picture-book-essay about the deep-centers (with very short explanatory captions) was meant to illustrate that process. It seems like the recent text struck a chord - it might be fun for you to scan through that picture-essay and see if it lines up with what I've tried to say here. And, since I seem to be on a little roll, same concept here below again, illustrated briefly with some of the same pictures. (And, like I said before: I'm not claiming to exactly illustrate/know any specific traditional version-of-body nor method ... but, in my experience, from what I've read, from everything I've heard quite a number of astounding teachers tell ... this basic territory is developed in a deep way.) There's this process of integrating a deep-center with The Big Light: ... and we've got a few centers. most of us 'd agree on power, love, wisdom - at least. Same basic process, each place. ... as a result, the whole filament and bulb Lights Up This sort of thing shows up repeatedly in traditional art, because it instructs, as well as is used in popular art ... because it resonates.

Not representing any tradition’s specific technical terms, here … but just basically: The deeper universal energies resonate with the central channel (sushumna), more specifically: potent points along the central channel that, once sufficiently ignited during a practice session, the entire central channel ignites, integrates with the resonance of those energies. Resonance with the golden light of emptiness, or a spectrum of refining colors … both gestures rest on the basic of central channel development. And the work is gradual, incremental, long term. (You’re not going to *poof!* dematerialize the first time you get a glimmer of these things, ). (Given that we are not talking about martial achievements, such as “Golden Bell”, which is more of an iron shirt / iron cloth practice.) And for all that wild advanced stuff, the same basic path applies: - unify breath and stabilized focus - open the tissues and channels - centering - vertical integration - blending one’s mindstream with that of an enlightened benefactor backed by a stable heavenly lineage Pick your teacher, your tradition, your practices … same basic principles. Maybe a bold statement, but we’re all human, basically same structure, after all. … and then (and here’s the boring part): daily practice. You practice and stay at it, and things add up over the long haul. In that way, internal arts are pretty much like anything else. Experience adds up, you learn. Details fill in. Progress occurs. You work really hard for long periods to get to a place, and then suddenly some *part* of it clicks in and what you’d worked hard for now occurs just rapidly, easily … and you go through the long labor of whatever is next on your plate. No end to it, as far as I’ve seen, as far as I’ve heard. When I was in my 20’s and in a panic to move rapidly on the path, I asked my meditation teacher (who was *very* advanced, I can hardly believe looking back the teachers I was so lucky to meet) “what I could do???!!” and he said, “Keith, if I were you, I’d do yoga and meditation every day”. The bland boring answer (also very real, practical) to a scintillating question. And, studying with that teacher, there was the basic sequence of a practice session from physical to subtle: first yoga, then pranayama, then meditation. Same basic physical -> subtle sequence idea can be used with other practices, traditions, of course. Anyway, that’s a lot of blabbing. Hope it’s of help. cheers, Keith p.s. (wow, I'm ranting now) In the Daoist systems, the "earth ~ human ~ heaven" metaphor is used a lot. The martial, health, and wisdom studies are considered integral along that line. Once the larger energies start running through you, it's more and more important that the other parts are in place - otherwise students often get dysfunctionaly blown out by opening to energies that they don't have the knowledge nor development to integrate. There are just droves of students like that, who've gotten very advanced transmissions. ... and, though I usually refrain from recommending specific paths these days, my impression of Sifu Matsuo's system is that it has such students in mind and is set up (at least partly) to help bring sound integration to advanced students who've gotten themselves into these kinds of messes.

Diet is obviously a big part of this: the amino acids need raw material to work with. I woke up at 3am the other morning (with the sense that my body was an oven of activity while I slept) and thought, “gee, a raw egg would be good right about now”. And similarly through the day, craving for various high protein foods. I think my body is going through rapid changes, which sometimes happens when I start with a supplement: strongly felt effects initially, typically smoothing out over time. Easy, steady, see how this actually goes.

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@Ethan singh You might find this little blog to be a concise, simple, accessible, yet deep overview of the internal arts. Generic (not tied to any one system), artsy, free. https://johndaoproductions.wordpress.com/ You also might find Deng Ming-Dao's book, "Scholar Warrior" to be a beneficial overview of Daoism. It's not a targeted at the pinnacles of achievement (as you've requested in your original post)... but is a really excellent introduction. Then search & dive deeply into study of a system & teacher that you find that resonates. best of luck, well wishes, Trunk p.s. I'm not claiming that either of the resources above answers exactly what you asked for, but I would suggest that your view of path, actual steps, achievements ... will sort out and fill in over time. It's natural (and very usual) for beginners to feel their potential strongly and aspire towards the highest peaks. (I did). Then there's steps. It's all good, keep going.

@quack, Glycine is turning out to be a real winner! It really does a lot. That it is beneficial to the nervous system, brain, liver and promotes deeper sleep ... wow! The nervous system healing is *really* interesting. For anyone doing deep internal work (personal and/or transpersonal), your nervous system is going to go through some things. And connective tissue benefits. And it's inexpensive. ($12/bottle of 100 caps) I am cautious about taking anything every day, long term. I'm pretty sensitive and micro-dose my way into things. .. My sense is that Glycine is going to be useful for a long, long time (taken judiciously). After buying 5 different books on Amino Acids, and returning 3 of them, here's the quality two that are left standing: A Guide to Amino Acid and Protein Nutrition The Healing Nutrients Within The above two books I find to be serious. (The other 3, not.) Going to take me quite a while on this study. I also find the reviews at amazon helpful: reading cold theory is one side of it, hearing people's actual feelings/sensations/results (in addition to my own) is also very helpful. - Trunk

This thread is for discussing Damo Mitchell's microcosmic orbit (MCO) course. It's free, 14 youtube video lessons, approx 7hrs total, shown below. Here's the link to his website MCO page: https://damomitchell.com/2020/03/23/microcosmic-orbit/ edit: Here's his introduction video to the course: The 14 youtube videos that comprise the course: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14

Since the prior book didn't work out, I said, "f### it" and ordered 4 diff books from amazon on amino acids. Gonna browse and return those that I don't want. Taking aminos continues to be interesting. (People vary.) I'm pretty sensitive to new stuff, so am micro-dosing and having days between doses. Monday morning micro-dosed an array of aminos, Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning woke up jones'in' for a steak and all kinds of protein. Cravings definitely leaning that way. Feels like an aggressive process of building, repair, or something. Going deep. My skin feels cleaner, if that makes sense.

Well, I realize that this is a powerful topic (amino acids), more than fits in a thread - and I'm under-educated: Time for a book (not sure if it's the right/perfect one, but it's a start): YUCK. Received this book and the print quality was so bad that my eyes were hurting after reading less than a page. (I do wear reading glasses, but that has *never* happened to me before). Unable to tell whether the actual content is good or not. p.s. Snuck in book on Tibetan art to make $hipping free.

None needed!, that was my attempt at humor. I sincerely appreciate your tip, and part of the advantage of group discussion: different people contribute what they have convenient time/energy for ... no expectations, requirements, all good, then others pitch in. (I was happy to be prompted to research more). Welcome to TheDaoBums! - Trunk

wtf is Glycine??? Reading references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine reviews on popular amazon products I find informative: one https://www.amazon.com/BulkSupplements-Glycine-Powder-500-Grams/dp/B00EOXU0N6/ and another https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Supplements-Glycine-1000mg-Capsules/dp/B002J0RHTQ/ hmmmm... thanks for the tip! p.s. “Friendly oils” complement the amino acids that build the dense connective tissues.

The powdered collagen I find very convenient. (I bought mine at Trader Joe's; I've not tried the super-duper one at Amazon). I started out with 1/2 the rec. dosage and have moved to much less than that, lol. ... but I get to micro-dose regularly. The one thing I was concerned with is that it feels that it draws in deeply into some dense tissue ... some things need to percolate *out* (especially if health situation is complicated). The collagen didn’t seem to do that stubbornly, just kinda and it would slowly sort out. So, not bad - but still … I found that a couple of amino acid products produce really good circulation and (by my feel) complement the powdered collagen nicely. (After some experimentation separately, I now take them all together). Branch Chain amino acids L Arginine w/ Pine Bark - Trunk p.s. I’ve been out of the supplements game for a while. Seems that there’s tweeks (pine bark?) and variations I’d not seen before.

Yeah, I’ve slow-cooked more batches of ox tail soup than I can count. I pour most of a bottle of red wine in, for starters, and usually a little shu di huang, maybe he shou wu ground up. So frickin’ yummy.

p.s. I'm pretty sure that this is obvious to you at this point, , but worth pointing out in general ... Super important to slow down during (and in recovering) from extreme energetic shifts (such as kundalini). There are stages where we appropriately train really hard (and wisely, so as not to injure) to get various certain things to happen, but if you adopt that as a permanent extreme-macho-spiritual ethic, you can *really* mess yourself up when kundalini awakens. As kundalini (or etc) enters your system, various more subtle aspects of the body gradually turn on, over years. Partly spontaneously, due to the presence of that resonant energy, just time. Partly by not injuring yourself (through excess or other) & (hopefully maybe) doing skillful things when you do them. One of my teachers said something to the effect that, "you get to a place and the kind of problems you have reverse". There's too much energy, emptiness is too available, etc. The simplest (and most obvious) advice: don't hit the gas hard.

@galen_burnett I suggest that you seek out a doctor of chinese medicine. It's dicey whether you can find one who can address this appropriately (and dr's of Ch. medicine vary widely in skill, right fit, etc, just in general)... however, if you find one that can help you it might be the best resource. If you live in an area that has an abundance of dr's of Ch. medicine, I suggest that you inquire to find those who've studied Kiiko Matsumoto's style of acupuncture. My experience is that that style is exceptionally effective, in general. If not, then any right fit. See how it goes for the first few treatments. Be discerning, trust your own perceptions and feelings of results. best of luck, Trunk

So, I’m finishing this one now (I’ve seen it before, also). This move really clinches Jim Carrey, in my eyes, as an actor (not just a great comedian who kinda acts). The script is inventive and timeless.

1. Go up to your name at the top right of site. 2. Account settings 3. At bottom of acct settings is "signature" Welcome to TheDaoBums! - Trunk

Yes. However, could be lag of up to a couple of weeks as our tech is away from the board for a bit. thanks for your patience, Trunk

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

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