Neophyte

I'm getting close to the 21 days; I'm in the middle of Day 16 right now. I feel great! No sexual desire or interest. Full of energy, confidence and concentration. However, this is far from what I've achieved before: I once made it over 90 consecutive days.

I don't know if it's related to your K arousal. It sounds as if it's male-pattern baldness, inasmuch as it's bald at the crown. Male-pattern baldness is caused by the hormone dihydrotestosterone (dht), which is produced mainly by sexual activity. Any sexual activity, even arousal, causes the enzyme 5-alpha reductase to convert testosterone into dht, which causes baldness and hair thinning. You'll go bald even if you don't have a genetic predisposition to baldness. Ejaculations should be kept to once per week; at a higher frequency you'll see more thinning.

For any mental affliction, including mental illnesses such as depression, the best solution is to meditate. Sit in half-lotus position, keep the tip of your tongue at the roof of your mouth. Ensure that you have absolute darkness and absolute silence (thus, nights are better). Keep your mind focused on your upper dantian, or both upper and lower dantian. Perform Buddhist breathing. With each breath, COUNT. Count your breaths for hundreds of repetitions. Other than your breaths, your mind should only be aware of your dantian. Try this for a couple of hours. This sounds simple, but is immensely effective. ' For the first half-hour, forty minutes, maybe an hour, you'll be feeling your worries, your depression, your desires: all of the things you mentioned in your posts. Eventually, you'll feel as if you're swimming upstream in a rapid current: the force of these emotions will be rushing against you, and you'll be fighting them. But this is good. In my experience, this is when the tormenting emotions begin to feel external. Right now, you probably feel as if your depression is radiating from within you. When you start to feel that it is a current flowing through you, then that is the first step of progress. It won't be perceived to come from within, but a current from without You probably also feel that your depression is justified--you are convinced that you have reasons to feel depressed. But with enough meditation experience, you'll learn that your depression is irrational. You'll see that everything in your life may be just as it is, but that you can experience it without the depression and anguish. The current of negative emotions flowing through you, will get weaker. It will get weaker within each meditation session, and will grow weaker with each passing day. Eventually, these mental afflictions will be like flies, annoyances that can be swatted away when they come too close. Read the book, The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, MD. PhD. It is a science book which presents the evidence that our brains are not hard-wired. They are soft-wired; they are neuro-plastic. They can and do change. Meditation is probably the most effective way (in my opinion), of harnessing the brains neuroplasticity. (In my experience, nothing has been better.) There have also been very reputable scientific studies, published in peer-review journals, that Omega-3 polyunsaturated fat is enormously effective at reducing depression. After all, our brains are more than fifty percent omega-3 fat! Salmon and other fatty fishes is the perfect treatment for mood disorders. Peer-review studies also show that Vitamin D treatment has the same effect. You can find all of these studies with a google search. So, meditate this evening for a few hours. The longer you stay in meditation, the more relaxed you'll be, both mentally and physically. When you come out, you'll be energized enough to do anything you wish. It works for me.

What I'm about to describe, might indicate positive effects of my training; however, I'm not sure: it might be quite the contrary. Where I live it's been very cold. Nevertheless, I still feel toasty warm, even when everyone else is terribly cold. Sometimes, the effect is very extreme: I'm overheating, almost breaking a sweat. But it's a different kind of heat, not like one experiences on a hot summer day. It's a type of heat that I started experiencing when I started practicing Yang systems, such as Nine Palaces. A few nights ago, I stayed up late to practice the saliva-swallowing exercise (as described in Taoist Yoga and by Yang, Jwing Ming). In between swallows, I would spend a few minutes Embryonic Breathing, pushing chi down central energy line to dan tian with each breath. The following day I was extremely warm, even though my house's furnace was turned off all day. This shouldn't happen because saliva-swallowing is a Yin practice. And it's happened other times I stayed up late to meditate. However, this heat is something that's always with me, and seems to increase the more I practice. So what should I make of this? If it's a negative effect, how do I correct it?

First, thanks to all who replied, the responses were valuable. As for the above quote, I'm glad to hear that it's chi working through blockages and flowing more. I neglected to mention it, but I actually feel this effect the strongest when I perform Chapter 3 of Taoist Yoga--the clearing of the Eight Psychic Channels. I used to do this when I got out of bed in the morning. I'd be burning up all day. The sensation was so strong that it scared me. I feared that I was doing it wrong; I didn't want to do irreversible damage to myself, so I desisted and haven't done it for a few weeks. I will recommence doing it tomorrow. I was also worried that this sensation might accelerate my physical aging (I had heard that being Yang too much ages the body). What I do know from practice, is that when chi, or generative and vital forces, move through channels and vessels, the effect is very physical; there's nothing imaginary about it. One or two circuits in the microcosmic orbit is such a profound feeling that it's scary. When I hear of people claiming to perform the mco for hours at a time, I infer that they aren't really moving anything through the orbit, other than their imaginations: they're wasting their time. I don't mean offense, it's just that the effect I feel is so strong; definitely not my imagination. I just hope I'm doing it all correctly.

I'm interested in hearing more about DMT, so if anyone has more info, I'd be glad to hear it. My interest in DMT was piqued about a year ago when Dr. Eben Alexander published his book, Proof of Heaven. Dr. Alexander is a neurosurgeon who has had a very powerful near-death experience. Anyway, when I was researching his story, I came across someone who sort-of discounted the doctor's experience, saying that he hadn't really seen the afterlife. This person professed to have personally used DMT, which engendered an experience similar to Dr. Alexander's. What is more, this individual did not discount the spiritual aspect of either his or the doctor's experiences. He said that the Doctor had merely reached "hyperspace", that had he pursued further, he would have entered the spiritual home we occupy between lives. He claimed that reincarnating is sort of like our "jobs", and implied that the place we inhabit between lives is our true home. So I took from this, that DMT is FAR more powerful than any other drug, and that by taking it, one has access to the spiritual realm, possibly more effectual than even NDEs, and life-between-life regression hypnosis, or ayahuasca. Any information someone has, either in credit to DMT, or in discredit, please share.

Hello fellow Tao bums I've been practicing Nei Gong and Qigong for a few years now, and I'm becoming terrified at what's happening right now.... I haven't been able to practice for the past few weeks, and I live in a constant state of severe anxiety. This is because I'm starting to hallucinate, in a sense and it won't stop. What's happening is that I very clearly hear music in my mind (not ears). I can't suppress the music. I even hear it in my sleep sometimes, and wake up to it. What's worse, is that it seems to be coming from outside of my body; from behind me. I feel a huge amount of energy behind me, attached to my body, and the music seems to come from there. I also seem to hallucinate sounds, which seem to come from behind me, though not as frequently, Sorry if this post sounds weird or disturbing but I'm convinced that this is occuring entirely because of my nei gong, and qi gong practices, which my life has been revolving around the last few years. So what can I do to stop this? Is what I'm experiencing commonplace in nei/qi practices? (Is this because my third gate isn't opened yet, and the huge amounts of energy is surging up my spine are entering the wrong paths?) Please help....

Hey, I just wanted to update this thread for those of you who still remember it. I've learned over the past few months that my problem is really just "clinging to form". Through daily meditation, I have learned to calm my xin (emotional mind). My consciousness is much clearer and relaxed. I have learned how to silence part of my mind, probably mostly the conscious part of my mind, I think. However, when I clear my mind in meditation, my subconscious is still active (I haven't progressed yet to be able to silence that; I will take time.) When I'm in this state, I have fears, anxieties, embarrassments, compulsions etc., welling up from my subconscious mind. This is normal in meditation, and eventually is overcome. So my mind hides from these fears, embarrassments, etc, by clinging to music, or sounds. It's a form of distraction: my mind doesn't want to experience those uncomfortable memories, so retreats into something that distracts the conscious mind. I noticed that during deep meditation, I suddenly recall a memory that worries me. It agitates my mind, and within seconds, I'm thinking about music. So, my affliction was really just a case of an inability to experience utter silence and stillness. Sitting still without any thoughts is very unnatural at first; it's something that must be practiced. I'm getting better at it. I'm now able to let go of EVERYTHING when I sit to meditate: all of my fears, worries, embarrassments, hopes, dreams, joys, speculations, etc. I am a void. This is something I wasn't able to do before. The instant I achieved it, I would "cling" to anything: if I heard the siren of a passing ambulance, my mind would cling to the sound and continually repeat it, ad infinitum. So really I was progressing and not realizing it at the time. I thought I was going mad, lol. It was a stage of progress. So, thanks to everyone who contributed to my thread.

Several years ago, I read both Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls. After reading them carefully, and thinking about them, and reading additional cases of Newton's, I came to the conclusion that Dr. Newton's regression system is total bullshit. I do like many of the concepts he presented--they seem attractive. But they are apparently nothing more than the subject's imagination. When you logically study the case studies, you'll see that they don't even make sense. There are so many problems with Dr. Newton's books, and his system of hypno-regression, that after I read his books and did further research, I was thinking about writing a book debunking Newton's "research" and his Journey/Destiny of Souls book series. I don't mean to offend anyone (and I apologize if I have), but I read the books, and my conclusion is that although they have attractive--even comforting--ideas, they're merely cases of people's imaginations, not memories.

Wow Everything, that's really beautiful and insightful!

Hey everyone, Thanks for your responses. My general goal is just to get into really excellent health; my long term and ultimate goal, however, is to master Neigong, and the steps given in Taoist Yoga, so that I can end the reincarnation cycle. I've already made great progress in my mental and physical health, which is why I don't want to suddenly give up practice. Other than my current affliction, I feel better now than I've felt in my life. As for sushumna nadi, I've never heard of it. I'll check it out. Is there anything you recommend regarding it? (books, advice, etc.) lol, I wish a calm mind could be that easily ensued for me. Any moment I put into thinking about it just increases the anxiety. No, unfortanately, I'm unaware if there is a teacher in my area. I wish I could find one, but I don't even know how to go about looking for one. I don't think it's a gift from the gods, because the music I hear is just music that I've heard recently, it's nothing spiritual. Thanks for your response. I hope you're right; and I hope you're right that the music will pass. I'm thinking that the music is a result of my making progress in controlling my Xin (emotional, monkey mind) and increasing the dominance of my Yi (wisdom mind). Through my meditation practices, I've managed to calm the hyperactivity of my mind (a hyperactive mind is something I've always had); now I have mental calmness and a productive mind, because of a more dominant Yi mind. The music arises because a deeper part of my mind, or brain, is still not adapted to stillness and silence. It's like a deeper part of my mind is consciously producing music, because I can't FULLY achieve silence and stillness. After 34 years of having a hyper and emotional mind, it's taking some time for me to fully enable myself to let go of my subconcious anxieties, worries, regrets, embarrassments, etc, that I fully need to let go of, before that deeper part of my mind stops producing music and other sounds. (If I hear a telephone ringing, or other annoying sounds, I have a tendency to keep reproducing those sounds in my head; I think that's just because my mind is clinging onto those sounds and reproducing them as a stimulant, because I can't yet fully "let go" of everything to achieve stillness). The music is not music that I've never heard before, so there's no positive spiritual element to it. It's just music that I'm already familiar with, and can't get out of my mind. It's really vivid and "outside me", so yeah, it's not pleasant. I don't squander my energy through orgasm. I try to keep sexual activity to a minimum. But I do have the bad habit of practicing qigong, neigong before and after orgasms, which is supposed to be VERY damaging. I hope that my mental afflction isn't caused because I practice without having the recommended 72 hours on either side of orgasm, in which I abstain from practice.

Hi Lindelani, I am an example of someone who can feel "toasty warm" in the middle of winter, when everyone else around me is bundled up and cold. I've been practicing "9 Palaces Qigong", which is a Yang practice. It works by maximizing the body's ability to absorb vital Yang energy from the sun. Solar energy is the embodiment of Yang energy. Thus, it's usually practiced outside, facing the sun (even in cold weather it can be practiced outside). One of the benefits I noticed is that it keeps me comfortably warm, no matter how cold the weather is. I'm thin and so you would think I'd be more sensitive to the cold, but I have a very overweight friend--who is usually too hot in the warm months, and always complaining about the heat--who complained about how cold my house was, when he visited me in the late autumn. I couldn't understand why he thought it was so cold--because I was very warm lol. In fact, my friends know me as the guy who can wear shorts in the winter and not feel uncomfortable. I've been learning this system mainly from the book "Qi Gong for Total Wellness" by Dr. Baolin Wu. The 9 Palaces Qigong covered in this book is also known by the Taoist masters as the "Healthy and Happy Practice". It is the first of the nine levels of 9 Palaces practice, so there's no prerequisite knowledge to know before you begin this book. Of course, keeping warm isn't the purpose of 9 Palaces. The main objective of 9 Palaces Qigong is longevity, but it also confers a huge number of health benefits. It also open up many channels, including the microcosmic orbit!! This is just a suggestion for you, from my own experience; take it with whatever weight you want.

But how can we progress without really pushing ourselves during meditation? When I sit for my meditation session, I force myself to abandon ALL of my worries, my anger, fears, etc. This is impossible to do at first, but I force myself to concontrate on my breathing (Daoist and Buddhist breathing), whilst counting my breaths and often focusing on upper dan tian. Slowly, but steadily, I'm making progress. I'm able to force myself to forget the mental angers, fears, worries, etc, that plague me before I sit down for my session. I actually came to conclude that when one is most filled with emotion, that that is the best time to meditate; when one is already in a relaxed and peaceful state of mind, this is the weakest times for making progress in meditation. When one finds it most difficult to meditate (for mental resistence against it, such as stress and fears, worries, guilt, anger, etc.), those are by far the most productive meditation sessions. But one must really "force" himself to focus exclusively on breaths and counting those breaths, and separating himself from everything going on in his life. That's what I concluded over the past year of my meditation practices, but now people are telling me differently. What do you guys think? I never heard that this causes blockages. I thought that this was the best way to "rewire" my brain so that I will eventually be able to clear it fully of all thoughts. Is what I'm doing correct, or am I setting myself up for developing blockages? I'm sending this question out generally, anyone with advice please inform.

Hey Gerard, what do you mean when you said to go easy with the mind, forcing it will worsen your practice? This sentence and the way it was underscored (and has many thumbs up), piqued by curiousity. If you or someone could give advice on this

Hey guys, so is the Taoist and Buddhist courses (through body) the same? All of my evidence suggests so, except for what I read in Taoist Yoga. I perform Chapter 3's exercise of circulating through channels to clear them and get generative and vital forces flowing smoothly. But in Taoist Yoga, it seems to instruct that the governing vessel goes through the CENTER of brain, above the cavity of spirit (upper dan tian). This differs from the course that is given elsewhere, in which the gov. vessel goes above brain, on inside of skull, to the forehead, then down face. I need to know this correctly so that I can practice Chapter 3 exercise every morning properly and safely. But swallowing the elixir is only beneficial during the positive half of day (11 A.M. to 11 P.M.); during negative half of day, swallowing the elixir is pointless as it has no effect. And even then, it is best to swallow when meditation, not when doing other things. So most of the time, when one is at work, with friends, etc, etc, it is best to keep tongue in fire position. Am I correct about this?

Hair loss is caused by the hormone DHT. The commonest cause of high DHT is sexual activity, so you'll greatly need to cut down on sex and masturbation as much as possible. Even if you don't have a genetic susceptibility for hair loss, you will indeed have hair loss--and even go bald--if you are too sexual. I was having hair loss, so I started taking Finasteride. I take five times the standard dose that other men take, and I highly recommend it. Finasteride, when sold for hair loss, isn't covered by your insurance, because hair loss is a cosmetic problem. So convince your doctor that you have BPH (swollen prostate). That way, you'll be taking the hyper-elevated dose, and because it's treating a medical problem, you'll be getting it for free. That's what I do. I take five times the recommended dose and I've never paid a single penny for it. Finasteride has no side effects, and has many health benefits: My friends have noticed that my beard is much lighter and my complexion has greatly improved (no more pimples and my skin is radiant).

So when I'm in full lotus, I keep my tongue against the roof of my mouth and I do reverse breathing. I can't fully clear my mind yet, so I usually focus on upper tan tien. Is this what you mean by "flex the pineal gland"? You said to NOT do that. If I don't focus on upper tan tien, what should I focus on to minimize my thoughts? (eventually I hope to be able to clear my mind completely). Please clarify for me, it's really important to me right now.

The first excerpt you quoted is simply the author telling you how to find the dragon and tiger cavities (by bending the middle fingers (onto its own hand) to accurately locate those points, and isn't part of the mudra he described. The second part you quoted, says to PLACE the right hand on the left. The middle finger of right hand goes straight down to the dragon cavity on centre of left palm. The left middle finger goes straight up to tiger cavity on right palm. So the right and left hands and parallel, with right hand on top and a space the length of the middle fingers between right and left hands; the middle fingers are vertical and connect the two hands. The author says that the dragon cavity is linked with the heart and lower abdomen, and mentions the channel passing through the left wrist; he also says that the tiger cavity is linked with the heart and lower abdomen too, by a channel passing through the right wrist. However, he says this just for information and understanding, and this info doesn't affect the mudra he describes. This mudra is only for the exercise he gives in Chapter 10, to prevent nocturnal emissions, and isn't the mudra as described in Chapter 1. The latter (Ch. 1 mudra) is the one to use when performing daily meditation.

The 24-hour rule isn't exclusively for full-lotus: it basically is the abstaining of sexual activity (or at least ejaculation) 24 hours both before and after any qigong or meditation practice. I read this in Dr. Yang's books. He said that some masters strongly believe that one must not practice qigong for at least FOUR DAYS on either side of sex/masturbation (but if I did this then I would never accomplish anything in meditation or qigong!). Dr. Yang suggests to at least wait 24 hours to allow qi to regulate itself in your body (after ejaculation) before practicing anything. I personally don't like to wait even THAT long, and so I often neglect the rule entirely. I was just wondering, specifically, what effect an ejaculation would have, shortly before sitting in full lotus for meditation? Would the meditation session be worthless? When I concentrate on upper/lower tan tien, I do not visualize energy. I just focus on the centers themselves and the result is excellent: I can feel strong electromagnetic energy in the areas. It feels really good, my sinuses immediately unblock, too (allergies). But of course, I feel this any time I concentrate on those areas, even when I'm not in full lotus.

I can sit in full lotus for longer than 40 minutes straight, and my rule is to sit in full lotus for at least twenty minutes every day, at the beginning of each daily meditation practice. Physically, it is the most comfortable physical position I've ever experienced: my body feels as if it's sitting amidst an electromagnetic cloud (it feels like a cozy cushion of energy within and around me), my mind is very focused: it's all an experience of "perfect bliss". But can anyone answer this?: I sit with my hands in the mudra given in Chapter 1 of Taoist Yoga: it is the "negative embracing the positive" and it closes the two gates of the hands (laogong). Is this the best best mudra to use when sitting in full lotus (it is the one I always use)? Is it okay to violate the "24-Hour Rule", to sit in full-lotus? I will abide by that rule if I need to, but I like to sit in full lotus as often as I can. When I sit in full lotus, I count my breaths, keeping my mind on my breathing at all costs. However, I also focus on my upper and lower tan-tien: sometimes simultaneously, sometimes alternating. I am doing well? What ought I focus on? (upper?, lower?, only breaths?, etc.) Thanks fellow taobums!!

The best time to practice MCO is midnight; the best time to practice embryonic breathing is noon. So, how do we adjust our schedules for "daylight savings time"? During the summer, do we practice at the "midnight" and "noon" of the clock? Or should we practice at the true "midnight" and "noon"? This is a more pertinent question than ever, because where I live, daylight savings time covers a bigger interval of the year than it historically did, and there are rumours that next year, it may be adjusted to be a two-hour difference instead of the current one-hour difference. So what do other tao bums do?

The MCO in Taoist Yoga is different that than found in many other books, such as Dr. Yang's books, which I study. In chapter 3 of Taoist Yoga, it describes part of the mco path: The generative/vital forces rise up the channel of control (tu mo, governing vessel, spine) -- and then enters the brain! Then it descends in the "medulla oblongata", behind the face, down throat and onwards... My question is: Isn't it dangerous to bring any kind of energy into the brain, as it can result in mental illness and brain damage? How do I do it safely? Do I concentrate on having it enter just bottom part of brain or the top part? (In other words, I don't know what to do with the energy once it gets past my neck.) Please help me to understand this fully, because I need to know it.