Trunk

what to do with the News forum afterwards. I guess I really should just scrap it.

My main.. complexity-discomfort with the setup is:

"too many sections, too many places to go".

I just want to arrive to one main discussion area.

At the very top is an RSS snippet of the last News/Announcements entry.

Under that is an RSS snippet of the last Blog Entry.

Under that is a syndication of the last 5 Taoist Discussion entries.

Again, I'd rather just go to one main discussion section, see the topics and choose what i want to read. Simple.

Then, after that, if i want to browse through various other sections, i can. But mostly i'm gonna just go one place, check it, then bubbye. Simple.

Trunk

p.s. If there's any way to implement post subjects (rather than it just feeding the first # of characters of post), that would be good.

Go ahead! w/whatever to simplify, imo.

Seems to me that people have been calling for simplification, in various ways, thrreads, sections... whatever way makes sense to you, imo, go for it. The continuity, even for posting and concensus, seems to be at ebb - maybe to wait for everyone to chime in at this point would be pointless.

Trunk also made a great suggestion today that I can implement immediately if you think it's a good idea. Basically, the idea is to scrap the "News and Announcements" forum completely (moving the posts to Taoist Discussion, and then making "Taoist Discussion" syndicate to the home page (www.thetaobums.com). I also thought it would be cool to put the "Latest Blog Entries" feed on the front page as well. This removes at least a little bit of unnecessary complexity and let's people easily get a scoop on the latest Taoist Discussion posts and Blog entries right on the front page.

Actually, my thought was not exactly that. Keep "News & ..", and whatever other sections there are. I think they're kind of all appropriate; its just too much to wade through the choices every time i log on... to get to where i'm really interested in: the taoist discussion forum.

So, my suggestion is to make the home-page go straight to just, simply, the "taoist discussion forum".

Then, if i want to, i can go to any of the other forum sections. But, mostly, most of the time, i just want to go that basic discussion forum. So, i think it oughta start with that, only that, simply that.

Trunk

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

You're doin' great. This site is a significant and good service.

Just a little time, settlin'in, chillin, & things'll gel beauty.

instant-msg -> live-chat?

Is there the ability to instant-message a person who is logged onto the board? .. so to ask them if they want to chat. Spontaneous live-chats sound fun to me.

(Also, i wish we could write in our own subject lines, rather than the thing just feeding the first # of letters of the msg. Subject lines became a sort of fun witty art after a while. Sad they're gone.)

I brushed up Lin's Links with some short paragraphs re: Sexual Chi Gong and Anal Breathing, so that the beginner would not be lost.

..haven't gotten around to including the rottweiler link.

Its blowin' my mind, and ahdunno what to think. And, again, i feel like an idiot.. but suspect there are many others like me.

I'd be curious as to what other people feel in their alchemy re: this.

"if you can take away just one fing!..."

Checkit!

..the anus, right? Now: the Sexual Qi Gong breathing then would be the opposite in breathing pattern compared to the Anal Qi Gong breathing. There you..

I am not the expert on Lin's methods; that list came from biel (long ago), and i only recently sequenced it logically + added a few notes, and got confirmation from Plato that all was well 'cause i felt out of my depth with the stuff. So, ?'s (though obviously a free-for-all) should be more authoritatively directed to Dr. Lin, or to Plato.

My two cents, currently, on this is that the Sexual Qi Gong's emphasis is more on working the energy and flesh down the front: through the belly, CV-4, sperm palace, through the urogenital diaphragm and into the scrotum. Circulating qi and blood through all of those jing-potent areas that clench with sexual tension.

And that the (ever silly-named) Anal Breathing brings qi from air into the nether regions, which acts as a catalyst ... the jing from the testes pulses right on back towards through the prostate, arse, and particularly the tissues around the tailbone pulse... pulls the whole orgasmic thing right on back.. where it naturally moves up the spine (both into the tan tien and on up further into the brain).

Would be interested in hearing clarification, comment, from Sheepish.

Trunk

If one compares the written word with the drawing one sees that they are contradictory. What the picture shows as inhale and exhal is the opposite in the text.

 

While this might not be of importance I would believe that the way one breathes triggers a different response in the body.

Agreed on both counts. I've updated the link with clarification (prompted by a tip in the same direction from Plato), and a link to a related article. Any more ?'s, or if that doesn't clear it up, please ask away (not that i'll have an answer, but someone might).

Re-organized into sensible sequence, and notated, a short list of links that provide an intro to Dr. Lin's work: Lin's Links. Linked to the half-dozen or so places on my site that reference Lin's stuff. Should make things easier for everyone.

Thanks to s.biel for providing the list, Plato for review and tip, and to Dr. Lin of course.

cheers,

Trunk

did not overlook

In the beginning of reading that set, i thought "hmm, this guy's inventive - fun!". Then later, "shit!, this guy is insane, is he doing all what i think he's doing ... he's in very good shape".

Then, the signature:

Steve Maxwell

It's going to be a real hack though because "out of the box"..

:shock: A real project.

Sean,

Seems to me that the default view for a forum ought to be "flat view" (it takes forever to load, otherwise).

And that the default view for a topic thread ought to be "threaded view" (as it makes it clear what responds to what).

Assuming others agree, Is it possible to implement that throughout the website?

Trunk

Harry,

Max and Pietro are giving the straight scoop on the shaking. Shaking tends to happen to people at some stages of their progression, usually to those who are fairly sensitive to energy.

My major aim is to get myself back into shape first. I have severe sleeping disoders, sometimes being in bed 10-12 hours but not really sleeping and not being really fresh throughout the day... etc. etc.

The sleeping disorder is a real problem. The energy that you access through qi gong can often be "quite invigorating" and that + your sleeping problem doesn't sound like a good recipe to me.

Yeah, go ahead and work on opening your structure, your tissues, your channels. But your emphasis in your alchemy needs to be with practices that will sooth, nurture, and ground you. Diet, herbs, maybe seeing a good dr of tcm, all might be part of it. It'll probably be a long term project to gradually become more grounded and soothed, and learning what things foster that for you. AND learning what things make the disorder worse.

Some qi gong rev's a person up, some gradually results in more stability, more anchor. Seems to me that its really important for you to watch your step along this line so that your practice - in the short & long term - takes you along your own healthy road.

Trunk

I can't give much of a breakdown of what that teacher wrote. Partly i don't know some of the terminology, and partly i feel it is out of my depth. I can say that that teacher is addressing deep issues.

But I am confused about people like Bodri & Master Li of Falung Gong saying that all that Qi Gong with energy & etc. is just low level stuff and will lead you nowhere. Very confusing...

I heard a teacher say that "energy is like God's clothes". The more foundational orientation is toward deep stillness (related to subjects like the no-self doctrine, non-duality, emptiness, clear light [dharmakaya]). The progression is form, energy, formlessness. "The Tao that can be named is not the Tao." Classical Taoism is very aware of the 'beyond energy manipulation' point of view.

In a number of Classic Schools, its considered that its the emptiness practice/view that gets the energetic cultivation to actually work right.

It might be said, from a certain strict interpretation that - without that foundational understanding - qi gong is not really "Taoist".

All of this is very related to my statement that a certain teacher is "selling sensation and marketing it as Taoism". My statement wasn't intended as some sort of baseless slam, but very carefully worded in regards to the above topics of study. If the whole "slamming" issue could be looked past (its not the issue, in my mind), the statement could lead to some very interesting conversations. .. interesting study... into very root issues of Buddhism, and Taoism.

Harry

Would you say that you are sensitive to energy? People vary. For instance, do you feel tingling?, flowing energy?, the resonance of spaces?, people?, that resonance in you change noticably as a result of practice?

If yes, always been that way?, or was there a certain event that triggered change?

Keith

Also, being relaxed in the core (one ctr at a time in this method) allows the energy to flow more freely, down.

 

Thankx for clarifying, Trunk, and hope you don't mind me being a bit slow in understanding: "one ctr at a time in this method" means?

 

Sitting down today doing the crown, tomorrow the brain centre, the day after the throat...?

I've always done it simply until i feel the energy move down, be refined by, flow by, that center. Cover all the centers within a single sit, one time around - or multiple cycles.

Those are my suggestions but, of course, be sensitive to your own body and - if some variation feels more appropriate. Part of, a big part of, this education is to gain sensitivity, experiece, develope your own good judgement, for what feels right for your own body. Really important.

Trip,

The strongest vibe i get from you is that the Chia system is totally working for you.

- we're all finding our own Way.

Keith

Also, in WSM there's no packing, directing, or concentrating of energy.

Seems to me, that in any healthy manifestation, there is both yin (concentration) and yang (expansion). "Emptiness" meditations that focus only on yang feel good, are often healthy, at first - but risk dispersion over the long term.

Part of the trick to this dilemma is the union of concentration and openness, which occurs in the deep-center. It both transcends and supports the individual. That's the trick of Taoism: using Larger Stuff to promote coherence, nurturance, and transcendence of the little stuff.

question: your description of bringing down the heavenly energy in order to fascilitate the opening of the front vessel in the mo:

There is no breathing pattern involved? Just "feeling" the chakras get wide for a certain time and then move on (no time pattern?)...

The radiance from the centers refines the energy in ren (the front channel). Also, being relaxed in the core (one ctr at a time in this method) allows the energy to flow more freely, down.

And another question if you don't mind: you say under point one:

 

"This is done by abandoning the deeper principles of Taoism (which must be taught first in order for this stuff to work), and promoting some of the more sensational (very advanced, much later) results. Unfortunately, the practices (and advanced 'fun' stuff) without the deeper stuff first is a sure recipe for injury."  

 

Where to find out about the deeper stuff you mention?

To a some extent, i am a victim of my own criticism on this; still more essays to write to be especially clear and upfront. The gentle path of blending, harmony, resolution into stillness is it though.. and my website tends to promote along those lines. That cultivation is about Realizing Fundamental Nature, and that "cultivating energy" and "sensation" are short of the goal (yet are legitimate within perspective). Orienting towards "building chi presure" is horribly misleading.

Several relevant pages from my site:

http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/gaps.htm

http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/Ext...xtVesCenter.htm

Various statements and orientation, throughout the site, follow along this line.

Trunk

your reason two...? What do you mean. You feel such a webside to be of disservice?

That website is my attempt (still under construction, and probably will be for some years) to provide alternative viewpoints, resources, solutions.

..find many being "against" HT, against either Michael Winn or Mantak...  anybody willing to let me know the reasons why and to point me into other directions..

Couple of thoughts... one, another one, two.

No one has fully corrected the situation, imo. Winn is trying - and making some headway.