Cognizance

The truth is, at least to me and my understanding, is that we humans are immortal fragments of consciousness/awareness imprisoned in our bodies in a cyclical Death-Amnesia-Birth cycle. We have been imprisoned as slaves for "gods" which are extra terrestrial/dimensional entities. Duality (Tree of Knowledge) we have eaten from and thus we see everything as yin/yang or within a spectrum of it. We have yet to attain enlightenment/freedom (Tree of Life). I believe that through meditation, we can achieve this and realise our true potential.

I believe, after researching, that reality including thought and emotions are all vibrations within the ether and that achieveing enlightenment is achieveing resonance with the supreme consciousness through which "objective" reality is manifest and that through this resonance, great powers can be channeled.

At rare instances I masturbate nearly close to orgasm but I don't reach the orgasm itself and do not lose any fluid. Now I understand some people think it's healthy to masturbate once in a while. I haven't had an orgasmn in two weeks and only masturbated 2 within those two weeks. Does masturbation in any way consume jing/qi even if you haven't ejaculated or attained an orgasm? I believe that in masturbating without ejacuating is a good way to develop discipline in a weird way in that I really really want to go all the way but I end up stopping instantly. Would this cause any impedance? I apologise if it is "tasteless" to some people but let's face it, we are dealing with our body and sexual organs/energy is one of, if not THE most important part of our body as it is how life is brought into this world. Thanks for any feedback guys. Cheers .

My current vague "understanding" is this:

 

You are bequeathed prenatal original jing (xiantian yuan jing) from your parents. This supply is finite and "cannot" be restored or replenished during your lifetime (at least according to popular TCM). Jing conservation thus really refers more specifically to prenatal jing conservation here - because it is such a precious finite resource. Like an unrechargable battery that effectively helps determine your lifespan.

 

Now, the reason why you could conserve prenatal jing is because your body doesn't need to run directly off of it. Normally, it runs mostly off postnatal qi (houtian qi). Which can also be absorbed from your environment rather than just being converted from prenatal (and then postnatal) jing. So, if you could constantly intake enough postnatal qi from your environment - you theoretically wouldn't have to tap into your prenatal jing battery.

 

But prenatal jing is also converted into postnatal jing during sexual arousal and gets released during ejaculation.. And by forcefully retaining this postnatal jing at this point one risks trapping and stagnating it in your body (creating unhealthy body armor and blockage). Now, I suspect that if your channels were open enough, you might be able to recirculate it naturally. Or, there may be some other safer alternative methods. However, either way - you've still depleted some of your prenatal jing that cannot be recovered. Hence, retention =/= prenatal jing conservation.

 

At best, it might help you retain some postnatal jing which could be better than losing it. But at worst, it could create a stagnant blockage.

 

As opposed to prenatal jing conservation - which would include preventing sexual arousal and the subsequent conversion of prenatal to postnatal jing to begin with...

 

Thus, Taoist longevity methods generally include absorbing more houtian qi while conserving prenatal jing. The general idea here essentially being to run off the universal qi grid rather than your own personal battery in life.

But again, this is just my current semi-speculative "understanding" though and I could easily be off..

My understanding is that, semen can be converted into yang qi. The generative force developed during an erection should be reversed and moved up the spine and circulated and purified. Once this is done sufficiently, you store it in the tan tien. I believe that this process is to be done for a 100 days. It is imperative that you attain stillness to gather the light which is the third eye. You focus on this while meditating. I am not too sure though. Im going to kind of just experience it for myself. I am very confident in how qi feels as I have felt it numerous times.

Should teachers charge students??

 

That's not the real question. The real question is, "Should teachers be dependent on student's money?"

 

The answer there of course is, "NO".

 

As soon as the teacher is dependent or attached to the student coming to class then the teacher can no longer be effective. Perhaps the best thing a teacher can do for the student is to send him away, or recommend another teacher.

 

Another interesting story about this:

 

A wealthy businessman decided he wanted to learn the supreme truth of all religions. He invited all religious leaders to give him their best instruction. In this way he became very knowledgeable but also very conceptually confused. He finally realized that if doctrines were just creations of the mind then they mustn't be the ultimate truth.

 

Eventually an achieved one agreed to teach the business man the ultimate, subtle truth. But the teacher demanded twelve fish of pure gold, each weighing 15 ounces to be placed in a boat along with other offerings. The boat would set sail and be secluded from the worldly life of people. Only deaf sailors and servants would be allowed to help in the boat.

 

On a very auspicious day, the teacher and the pupil sailed out to sea accompanied by a few sailors and servants. The servants helped prepare the offerings in the manner of traditional ritual and then retreated from view. Only the teacher and the pupil were left together. They ceremoniously made offerings to the Heavenly Realm. Then, to the amazement of the rich businessman, the teacher took the gold fish and threw them one by one into the ocean. The pupil's first instinct was to stop him, but he dared not since the fish no longer belonged to him.

 

Finally, he gathered his courage and asked the master, "May I venture to ask the meaning of this?"

 

The teacher's answer was simple: "I just wanted to see the fish swim again"

 

"I'm afraid that probably cannot happen," said the pupil.

 

"Why not?"

 

"Lifeless gold cannot be made into living fish."

 

"Is it that your gold is not good enough?" asked the teacher.

 

"All gold is lifeless, venerable sir," replied the businessman.

 

The teacher then smiled and gently said to his pupil, "I am glad that you know that."

 

At first the rich pupil was stricken, realizing what an expensive lesson he had just been taught, but he immediately said to his teacher, "Thank you sir. Hereafter, your pupil will not value lifeless things. I will maintain single-mindedness in order to learn Tao from you."

 

That was beautiful Stig.

To OP,

I usually find that women tend to mix up confidence with arrogance a lot. I do not know whether it's because of the emotional instability (drama) or mob mentality that attracts them to these men. Having said that, they always end up complaining about them. Of course not all women are like that, but those that are insecure with themselves tend to go this route. And they always assume that you want to listen to them talk about these things LOL.

I find girls that are secure with themselves extremely attractive. No need to put make up all the time or dress in a provocative manner. No need to straighten their hair everyday. But hygeine is a must .

You are not buying knowledge, at least not in my book, though I can understand most think that way, that's how the society works.

 

My point of view is more towards "energy exchange" (money=energy) and paying for masters time.

 

 

I didn't say that and wouldn't subscribe to that. Paying for lessons has nothing to do with making any progress.

For similar argumentation, people often say "you need to pay to really value the teachings" and while I understand where they are heading with that, I don't care that much about that one either, it's just, more or less, the "western school of motivational thought" kind of thinking.

 

Sure there are masters who will not charge anything, for their various own reasons.

 

But whether someone charges or not has little to do with them being master.

As someone said, they can be Masters of anything.

That's a very good start and practice..

 

(Assuming you are practicing jing conservation and not forceful retention.)

Thanks for the reassurance Vortex. Would you please clarify the difference between Jing conservation/Forceful retention? Thank you.

Would a typical master let you live with a subconscious feeling of overwhelming debt to him because you didn't have to pay a dime?

 

Would a typical master require you to work for him for free in exchange for his "free" teachings, like it used to be in the old days?

 

Just thoughts....

 

In my very humble opinion, don't waste time thinking about that, especially not before you have even met the person you want to study with.

Sorry but I fail to see your point. Waste time thinking about what? The concept of just going online to find a "master" and then paying X amount of money for Y number of classes doesn't sit well with me. I just don't believe true knowledge can be bought. It's funny how people make it out to look like you need to be paying for lessons to make any progress. Thanks for the feedback Leif .

well hey there all,

 

cog, i feel the need to respond with my experience, since i am somewhat regretful of my tone in the other thread. for that, i hope you harbor no ill will.

 

my journey began about 10 years ago when i was guiding for a boy scout camp in the northern regions of our country. there was another guide, an older gentleman, who chimed in innocently when a group discussion of religion came up at one of our nightly gatherings. he was a "taoist"...the first i had ever met, and the first time i had even heard of taoism. after hanging out with this person for about 4 months and getiing a primer on taoism, but not really "converting" (or so i thought at the time), an awakening of some sorts occurred in me. (i call it an awakening, but really he just changed my perspective on things, and this was by no means an "enlightenment" experience).

 

after about 5 years of contemplation and life, something in me said i needed to buy a copy of the bible for my new years resolution, just to read and have around the apartment. somehow, i ended up coming home with a copy of the tao te ching. after fairly serious independent study for some months after that, it seemed to become obvious to me that i needed guidance...i needed a teacher. the search was on!

 

and i hit a brick wall. i live in a major metropolitan city, right downtown, so i thought it would be easy...go to google, get number and address, learn tao. not so, it seemed. then, after what seemed like months of fruitless searching, there he appeared in the same search i had done countless times before. i really can't explain it, and sometimes i feel like i am duping myself or something, because that's not how the internet and search engines work, especially since the site had been up for several years. anyway, i can only explain it that when the time was right, i found a direction to travel. it has been a life changing direction for me, and one that i am eternally greatful for, and can never repay.

 

just to address the earlier posts, our sifu does not charge to teach. we do collect a couple dollars a class to pay for the space that the church graciously lets us use. and that is about 10 or more hours of instruction time in an average week, sometimes more in the summer. the sacrifice he makes is enormous, and something i could never repay. good luck again cog...thanks for readin' my little story!

Thanks for the reply mate. Very kind of you to share your experience with me. You are very lucky to have found a teacher in a metropolitan city. I live in London so...LOL.

lol, i completely disagree with wudangspirit (no offense to you of course)

 

As a counter-point...

I suggest you increase the amount of time you can meditate in full lotus. Masters like Sifu Wang Liping for example, wont even train you until you can sit comfortably for four hours in full lotus. Also Masters like Chunyi Lin emphasize diet and flexibility. Most all things require concentration as well, so focusing on that will help(imo). There are certainly many "Masters" out there and they can be masters of anything. There are many masters of music and art, master of certain skills...anything you were looking for?

 

It seems most masters nowadays, since we have the internet and live in the "communications" age, seem to sit still and simply make themselves known, rather than wander around like in the olden days. I'm sure there are still hermits and wandering taoist sages but I doubt they'd just appear to you. I'd say take a look at some systems out there and pick one and stick with it. Most advertised systems are just beginners stuff to initiate the layman, perhaps for future lives. For those who are serious for progressing it is my belief that the masters of these systems will share the more "inner circle" teachings as you progress.

Also the idea that masters nowadays eating and living like common man is partially true but tricky. If you're talking about masters of wisdom and alchemy...well no they don't have to eat if they don't want to, and they will likely not act like the baboons and fools of this modern society, lol. However that also doesn't mean they'll act like an alien. They'll still be human, they'll still feel and laugh and live but not like people nowadays. I'd love to see Buddha chillin at a party drinkin 40s and munchin on sum weed brownies lololol, dressed in classic hipster clothes listening to his ipod :lol:

 

Buddha: Yo bruh, check out this mad chick I totally banged last night.

Jesus: Oh shyt son, that girl is whack. U wanna try this new vaporizer i picked up?

Shiva: Heeeey dudes, I brought the rum and coke. Sumone wanna play sum Mario Tennis? Cause i've been wantin to play sum mario tennis, that Daisy chick is HAWT!

 

hahahahahaa, phew good laughs

 

Anyway, look around, see if you can find some reputable "masters", see if they teach a system and learn it, learn and master everything they have to teach, then they'll likely teach you beyond the "public" systems and you'll start having some fun. Personally in the US Chunyi Lin has the the notorious rep of being a crazy healer, Max Christensen is either a powerful magician or complete fraud, lol, There's Sifu Hata who teaches a unique art and is also connected to other highly reputable masters. I'm sure people on here could also recommend themselves and maybe others too

 

-Astral

Brilliant reply. I definitely agree that yes everyone needs money to survive BUT a "true" master charging to teach a big group of students without demonstrating any form of achievement or energy causes a lot of cognitive dissonances in my head LOL. Thank you Astral, that was really insightful.

So far all I've been doing is retaining my jing and meditating. When meditating, I sit in a full lotus/half lotus, straight spine, sitting on my hui yin point touching ground, right hand on left hand cupping dan tian and embryonic breathing. I try to achieve a state of "nothingness" so to speak. I am planning on finding a true master. Should I persist with what Im doing now and would a master typically charge you, a true one? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you so much.

.

What about this http://www.universal-tao.com/article/cultivating.html and the Secret of the Golden Flower. I don't understand the need for secrecy seeing as the world is already a disaster with weapons of mass destruction, enormous energy released by the tniest particles enough to destroy everything in its path. Why would they still keep it secret. Another Boxer's Rebellion perhaps?

Where did you get this information? Couldn't be further from the truth. Yes the red guard did frequently burn down temple and take priests away to the re-education camps however they could not take away oral tradition. That is the beautiful part about it.

 

My lineage for instance has still kept the pre-communist orthodox teachings thanks to my grandmaster and master. If you are interested in these practices I can help.

are you serious? How? I mean yes, I would appreciate your assistance.

I've been retaining my semen or let's say I've been celibate for about 10 days. And Im quite good at controlling my thoughts but what If I ejaculate while asleep? How do you prevent this from happening? Do you tie like a band around your penis cause I heard students did that and that they can apparently pull in their testicles into their body. Some also pull cars using their private parts. I would genuinly appreciate any kind of advice

So, the pot thickens.

and so it begins...

Not sure I am understanding what you mean by "pointer". Traditional lineages still exist in Taoist practice that have nothing to do with communist influence if that is what you mean.

I understand that the cultural revolution was actually a genocide of these enrgetic practices. Do you know of any Taoist practices that survived perhaps and were untainted by the genocide?

Funny you say that because Im smoking a joint right now. I just recently joined Tao Bums. Nice to see we have something in common broski

Has anyone managed to find any reliable pre-communist "pointer" with regards to internal work and alchemy?

I haven't had any enlightenment experience yet with regards to the meditation Im doing, I did however manage to make a qi ball which manifested as greater heat which got the attention of my sister when I threw it at her. I didn't meditate or anything, just charged up qi for literally 40-45 minutes while directing it. This happened when I was around 14-15. Im 20 now and Im only starting to take this practice seriously cause I am very convinced it's true. I can actually get a crushing sensation of energy which affects breathing in the heart chakra at will. But I would not personally consider that an achievement in any shape or form . I now it takes years to develop and master.

Li Ching-Yuen. That's my answer to that simple question.

Most welcome - I have found this place nice to go to for some time now - hope you enjoy...

When meditating, I understand that you focus on achieveing a state of sensory deprivation while breathing air down to the dan tian as the belly comes out. Apparently after 100 days of "gathering the light" then it is genuine and work can begin. Im not sure if Im meant to visualise but Im convinced that with persistent practice that you will begin to actually feel qi and eventually control it through breathing but not through visualisation. Kind of like how qi is lead to your arms when you flex without you even thinking about it once mastered. Im not sure, will anyone please give some directions on the technique. Im sure that a lot of fellow bums have been training diligently for a long time. What experiences and techniques can you share? Am I on the right of path at a price of 100 days lol. Thanks for any feedback .

I've had no side effects I could surely connect to Qigong. Only nice effects like pronounced feelings of relaxation, radiant health and lovingkindness Some emotional reactions along the way like sadness and angry outbursts may or may not have been due to practice.

 

I think as long as you're not perfectly healthy the Qi will hide deeper inside every now and then to do the healing and that's when you get tired. And unless really sick there will follow a period of more outward action when you're feeling more energetic.

I can relate on feeling much more relaxed, more love and stabling of my emotions. For example whenever something "bad" happens, I easily transcend this dualistic judgement because it's good in a different way.