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Our dreaming mind has access to certain imaginative abilities not fully realized by our waking minds. It can 'take' us places as seemingly real and memorable as our actual experiences. Recently, while in a deep state of meditation, I had tapped into this ability. To my back was a smooth sandstone cliff. It passed onto my left and angled away around a point. There was no rubble or scree, and at the base of the cliff the red stone turned into a shallowly submerged floor of wave-rippled sandstone. It was ocean water and salty. When I slipped into the shallow water it was as deep as my chest and warmed by the noon hour sun. The only waves on the surface was caused by myself. The water was otherwise smooth and still. I could see, further out (200-300 feet?) some sort of nature stone breaker and could faintly hear the ocean lapping against it. I suppose it was where the sandstone floor abruptly rose and dropped off into the ocean. I'm not sure. I didn't give it much thought. I was more focused on the feel of the rippled sandstone floor on my bare feet and the colour of the clear water over the red stone. Slightly greenish it was - or maybe it wan an optical illusion. It was comfortable and unbelievably refreshing. I was calm and at peace. I also know that, not only did I create this location, but that I was in complete control of it. I didn't 'happen upon it' and gain control - I chose it. But real?! When I looked at the sun I would squint. I could feel the water, its temperature; I could smell its freshness and warmth; I could feel the air and breeze; the goosebumps across my bare shoulders and upper back when I came too far out of the water. It was all real yet totally within my imagination. I was not asleep. It was early morning, about 6:30 am, and still dark out. It was cold that morning. Somewhere around -30 degrees © with the windchill... and I was on the bus, going to work, meditating. I chose when I left the large sandstone tide-pool. I was awake on the bus, deep in mediation, and acutely aware. ~ We are not our memories. We can't be our experiences. Because we remember and experience our dreams. I was never at that tranquil tide-pool; but I have the experience and memory of it.

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I was wondering if any one knew about the effects of amanita muscaria if one practice tai chi and/ or Taoist practices. I know that most drugs are yin base so unless you are practicing magick you cannot take it, but amanita muscaria seems different because it seems to access the subtle energies. I want to know if anyone has taken amanita muscaria and knows if you lose your chi from it?

I was wondering if any one knew about the effects of amanita muscaria if one practice tai chi and/ or Taoist practices. I know that most drugs are yin base so unless you are practicing magick you cannot take it, but amanita muscaria seems different because it seems to access the subtle energies. I want to know if you take amanita muscaria, do you lose your chi from it?

I have a friend whom has ADD and was considering recommending some meditation techniques to him in order to help with his current state. I have read several articles that say Meditation helps treat it but was wondering if anyone can share personal stories of its effectiveness? My 2 cents, Peace

I have a dedicated cultivation/meditation and practice sexual q-gong pretty much consistently now. Even though I have a partner I treat the relationship as an extension of the cultivation, which is good for the "relationship" part because I am always ready for her to share herself with me as the raw yang-desire (from the jing) is never satiated. This isn't a bad thing though! The idea is to take what is primarily an animal desire, let that flow through me, feel it, note it, but make the conscious choice to not waste this energy, and instead transform that into a yin-feeling. After that's done, i sort of have this feeling of "what is the big deal about?", and can cater with love to my partner's needs in a totally non-selfish manner. Even when my partner isn't around I get aroused normally during the day. I attempt to sublimate this energy. The best way I have found so far is, if I get a hard-on or lustful thoughts, to sit naked and cross legged in a quite room and meditate on the desire itself. Naked because it is, in my opinion, a relatively innocent way to feel in touch with your sexual center without being overly lustful. It's important to allow the lust feelings to pass through you (the horniness plays an element) but to make the intuitive realization that the desire comes from emptiness. I find it's best to envision myself in a situation in which I acted on lust, and to decide whether I would truly have been happy or not. Once I've let it go, I find that doing yoga is a great way to get rid of some of the heat. It's odd, but I feel like the true enlightenment comes when you feel sexually "full" and verified as a human but without the animal desire to commit an act of lust. Lust is an obstacle and I am curious to see if through enough cultivation I could rid the desire completely. By the way - I discovered that diet did play a role after all. My nocturnal emissions reduced to almost none since getting a partner, but especially after I became a vegetarian and stopped eating lots of "violent", dense or salty foods. I eat fruits and vegetable dishes with mild spices, and get protein from nuts and beans which are less harsh than meat. I also feel lighter and overall have more energy. Anyways - thoughts on all this?

I am reading a book: http://www.amazon.com/Demystifying-Out-Body-Experience-Exploration/dp/0738730793 In it the author teaches an energy exercises, where you think about an area, like the top of your head, and you direct energy down through your body, out through your feet, and back in and up again. No mental imagery or visualizations. No looking at the areas of the body where this is occurring. No matching your breathing to it. I think I understand it, I feel the energy as warmth and I follow it with my mind, feeling it, as it slowly (and I mean slowly) goes through my body. Some areas are energetically blocked, and I just direct my thoughts to them and feel until I actually can feel the warmth. I have added to this a practice of doing the same thing at the base of my spine, gathering energy there. I have had some very vivid dreams from this, and I may have actually projected, because in one of my dreams I was in a car that flew out over a cliff, so a definite sense of flying. Also longer dream recall. Well I have been struggling in my meditation practice, and obviously energy is not flowing very well in my physical body, so I thought, OK, let's, metaphorically speaking, kill two birds with one stone! Tomorrow I intend to meditate on the movement of energy in my body, focusing on that as I send it down from the top of my head, out, and up through the soles of my feet. I think this is a really cool idea, but what do you folks think? I appreciate your advice! - DreamBliss

Here is a great tool to help any being affected by the typhoon. http://goo.gl/97CR2R In light, Dr. D

If you are working with spirits, beings without bodies please enter this discussion. When working with "guides" I would suggest you do not look up or down at them - but do know and never forget - your body is your body - you own the treasure. Allowing someone else into your body or into a hand chakra knowingly is a bond you should take great care on doing. This is one of the single most dangerous undertakings you can become involved with though it is also quite easy and can be very fun and interesting. I would put the danger level near Heroin so please beware. You own the house - you choose the guests, and you choose when they leave. When they leave - they should take all of their energy with them and none of yours. Let them know they are not allowed to rearrange the furniture unless you say so and they must put everything back as it was before they leave - meaning they can't leave doors open and footholds to get back in. If you are pregnant stay away from this stuff. You talk to them - as the owner of the body - if you let them enter and take over - you get whatever karma they create with your body. 99.99999% of the time you are what could be termed the higher spirit - this common idea that a human is a lowly nothing is a few lightyears from reality. In order for them to really work well in your space you need to increase your cycles from around 10,000 - 15,000 to 30,000 and above. This makes no sense but postulating will do the trick. When you reach these stratospheric vibrations it is easy to move around. You can completely leave your body with your consciousness intact - sit in your hair and decide where to go! At this time it is easy to feel like writing a book, preaching to a crowd and defining the meaning of previously esoteric doctrine. (Try to resist the temptation - we have enough of those detours) Perhaps the most important thing is if you allow them into you conscious life they are VERY likely to become a huge part of your unconscious life - and quite possibly take over. If they do, it would most likely look like a king being driven around by ants, dictated by a rat. My point in all of this is: you are a miraculous being, take care who you allow to share your body and understand that they wear no badges greater than your own. (And they will appear and sound like angels, cowboys, doctors and magicians - whatever Your tastes would find appealing)

Hi Tao Bums, Just as some tao bum suggested me, I've started a "program" of 15 minutes daily of sitting meditation. Just sitting there and trying to focus on the space between thoughts. Some days is very difficult : The 15 minutes pass like a second, and my mind hasn't stopped any single milisecond. Other days I can focus some seconds on that space, it feels good and generates insights. Although it's all very subtle and I of course I am in the very beginning. I started adding 15 minutes of "free movement" after the sitting meditation. That is, I stay still and wait for my body to tell me how he wants to move. That is normally movements with the pelvis, hands, neck, hips, normally in circles. Also, some violent gestures, some caring gestures, some sexual gestures, some gentle dancing gestures, moving the body in waves or circles, joy movements, etc. However, yesterday I got very scared : I started to use my hands as claws, I was something between a wild animal and a crazy paleolithic raw carnivore, I was gesturing like tearing apart some flesh and furiosly biting at it. I was very scared but said to myself : Just don't judge this, just observe and let it happen whatever it is. It continued. It was very primal, very violent. After a while it ceased and much more gentle gestures came. I am still a bit shocked that this was inside myself. Is this the "shadow" ? Or what is this ? Is it ok to keep on doing like that or will I awake dark forces inside myself ? What does that mean ? Please advice! My best wishes to all the tao bums.

I think too often we are 'sold' on the fantasied, romanticized imagery of meditation, and I think this might be harmful. My favourite are the pictures and especially landscapes associated with meditation. (Try googling meditation landscapes). I know I can't sit on a beautiful sunny ocean shore and have any hope in hell to meditate. The sheer beauty of the surroundings are a brutal distraction. (But then again, I could be wrong. Maybe we're supposed to get to a point where we can 'tune-out' the surrounding beauty.... naah). I think the Venerable Henepola Gunaratana agrees: "We have certain images of meditation. Meditation is something done in quiet caves by tranquil people who move slowly. Those are training conditions. They are set up to foster concentration and to learn the sill of mindfulness. Once you have learned that skill, however, you can dispense with the training restrictions, and you should. You don't need to move at a snail's pace to be mindful. You don't even need to be calm. You can be mindful while solving problems in intensive calculus. You can be mindful in the middle of a football scrimmage. You can even be mindful in the midst of a raging fury" Mindfulness in Plain English, pg. 93 My first (chance) encounter with mindfulness (before I even had a name for it) was during my Black Belt Examination. It was quite profound. But wouldn't have described myself or my actions as anything remotely close to quiet, tranquil or slow moving. I wonder sometimes whether there's an unproductive industry out there that - really - only sells the idea of meditation. All the imagery and trappings; but little to no substance. I think this might be the illusion of meditation. I also think we should be careful of this; to be mindful of it.

Hello, Someone asked me for the meaning of something they experienced during meditation and I don't understand It's meaning myself. She said she saw a background of pitch black and suddenly 3 large gray streaks appeared in the center. Does anyone know what this could mean? Each time she meditates she also hears voices talking and singing and when one male voice in particular starts talking and singing the rest would quiet down and listen as if he were making a speech. Could she be picking up an astral meeting of some sort? She says he sounds benevolent.

I'm experiencing pain and stiffness at the moment when I sit in meditation. I'm wondering whether sitting upright with no support just causes tension? Either way, it's very distracting and not too pleasant. When I then consciously slouch I feel better...but then it's like I'm doing more stretching exercises rather than meditating. Simple breath meditation just seems to be harder for me these days than say 6 months to a year ago. Perhaps my back is just shaped differently. Long car journeys in an erect seat also hurts a lot after a couple of hours. Does anybody have any clue as to what this could be? The doctor once said that it's just because I'm used to slouching and that I need to train my back muscles up by doing yoga exercises but since then, I've been more mindful of posture yet still it seems to be a problem.

Hello! One question that's been on my mind recently... What is the significance of the number 9 in Taoism? I have heard it referenced so much in texts and in meditation tutorials, breath cycles appear to go around in 9s (rather than 10s that I've been familiar with in other traditions i.e Zen)

I would like people to recommend particular practices that they have found beneficial. I realise that this can span a fairly wide area of experience, and so I hope others can respect that. I think it would be particularly useful for people to discuss their own experiences, rather than to attack or disparage what others have, or are, doing. I can assure you I've had my eyes opened by a lot of things that I didn't expect, and found prejudices to be deeply unfounded. So, please, some positive recommendations. The idea here is to offer people some beneficial areas for them to investigate. Everyone will have their own particular inclinations, and so there will be differences of opinion. That is fine, as long as people remember everyone finds their own particular path, some of whom will be fellow travelers, and others who will be seeking the same destination but via a different route. That a particular path did not suite one person does not mean it is not right for another. Finally, I would request that if someone trolls, please do not respond, but simply ignore them. That way they have no effect on the conversation and will soon disappear (either by choice or by moderator intervention). Thank you.

Hello, Someone asked me for the meaning of something they experienced during meditation today and I don't understand It's meaning myself. They said they saw a backround of pitch black and suddenly 3 large gray streaks appeared in the center. Does anyone know what this could mean?

During my meditative training, I have uncontrollably been heating up and getting those "cool" rushes of heat through my body. I've decided to start learning how to gain better control of my energy rather than letting it run wild and leaving cold when I want to be warm and hot when I want to be cool. I've found some info on tummo and how to heat up your body but I haven't found anything on how to reduce body temperature to cool down. Anyone know of anything that might help me with this?

I have been studying various martial arts now, manly Wing Chun. And I am looking for an internal art to straighten my outer, if any one has an art that I should try I would appreciate your suggestion.

I have recently joined a local meditation 'group' or session(s). It's held/taught by a E-RYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher). (Yes, yes, I know. Not all meditation(s) are the same. It's just that outside of specific religious based local meditation practices, there's little else available here. And I figure practicing within some sort of group of peers with some sort of instructor is better than functioning totally on one's own. Which is what I've been doing for over the past year+ ). Here's my issue. I normally practice meditation in the early mornings for about 25-30 minute every sitting. I normally use a seiza bench. (Sitting cross-legged, tailor-style, Burmese, half-lotus, full-lotus, or regular sitting on a chair, I usually and eventually slouch or my legs fall asleep or I fall asleep). None of these happen with the seiza bench. It simply works best for me. Now, I'm not a big fan of group meditation, and I believe there's a difference between group meditation and teaching a group to meditation (on their own). The instructor has said I can bring my seiza bench (I have a portable one) if I prefer. This group practices sitting on chairs. Everyone within this group (it's about 14 people) are easily 50+ of age, with meditation experience ranging from having never done it before and up. I really don't want to attract (or distract) attention from this group. (Not to mention using the seiza bench would probably not be good of some of these people's knees. I don't want my personal practice to necessarily set an example). I'm not opposed to simply sitting in a chair, although it's not optimal for me. What should I do?

NOTE: To anybody reading this, there used to be a post here regarding side effects that I was experiencing that I thought was caused by meditation... I deleted the post because I now know that it had NOTHING to do with the meditation... I was going through a lot of stressful things in my life and I stupidly though that the meditation was the cause. There were a lot of people that have read this post and I apolgize if I have scared anyone into not doing mediation. Mediation is a GOOD thing and I hope that I did not discourage too many people into not doing mediation. Please ignore the title... Thank You. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . .

What's are some of the most interesting experiences you've had during meditation, OBE, etc.? I'm very interested to hear some of the them!

Hello all, I posted a few months ago in regard to Zazen practice and slightly open eyes that somewhat cross. I thank all that participated as now I feel that I have benefited greatly from the experience I have recently been practicing a chi/soul finding exercise that I found on Youtube from the Wudang guys. I was happy to see that the Zazen practice prepared me well for this...now I am to use visualisation...something that I find difficult if my eyes are slightly open and I can see that I am still in my front room! But this isn't my problem...I know I will overcome this with practice. The real issue arose last week. I am prone to anxiety and almost bi-polar type behaviour but I have had this fairly under control in the last year or so. But recently, panic attacks have been regular, and I often find myself waking in the night. I have had some family issues in the past and they have resurfaced recently so I'm certain this has rocked the boat along with some added financial stress as of late. But last week I found myself in a very bad way. I spent a week with one of my old school friends. He stayed with me for a couple of days then I stayed at his for a few days in preparation for a big barbeque party. All started fine but as the days went by, I noticed that each chi meditation I did in the morning became more and more disrupted to the point where on Monday, the day I was set to travel home, I sat there freaking out for the whole 30 minutes! I was agitated, my lower back felt stiff, and there were negative voices everywhere. I felt too week to watch and control my breath and I just couldn't focus at all...I was just submitting to all the horrible words and scenarios that were in my head. Ok, so the week leading up to this did include a lot of weed, tobacco, energy drinks and alcohol. Sleep deprivation and some junk food (I tried my best to be good here! For the best part my diet was ok) ... so I guess I really do know the culprits (along with my family situation for me to nicely dwell on) BUT at the same time, what can I do? My old friend knows me too well...and I feel I would be alienating myself if I didn't keep up with the partying. A different (and wise) friend of mine told me that tobacco, alcohol and energy drinks would mess with my chi (not weed though, he likes the odd smoke) but I never really thought about it until this happened. All I know is that after last week, it has made me pissed at myself. I have been really moody since and I've upset my girlfriend only because I couldn't find a way to smile or be happy. I've literally been wallowing in some state depression for a week now and gradually I'm getting out but shit - I feel like I've destroyed myself just by hanging out with old school mates for a week and being "me". Sorry for the long post, I just need some advice on where I should go from here. I have a gut instinct, but I would like to see what y'all say first... Many thanks in advance for those that have read this and want to reply.

May you all be open and filled with the blessed emotional energy of peace in your minds, love in your hearts, Joy in your abdomen, and vital aliveness in your root. May you all feel and breath and know within, the wonder of Divine presence and blessing - like the sun - shines for everyone, everyday. May Peace, and Love and Joy and vibrent Aliveness be with you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE-D9RzOBtg

This was going to be a personal message to Drew, but I figured I'd get more feedback like this! Have you had any experience with internal cultivation methods that are classified as Yang to Yin rather than the conventional Yin to Yang process of transmutation? The standard nowadays seems to be a process of transformation beginning with the JING then transmuting to QI and then to SHEN, but what about methods that first start work with SHEN then build QI and then JING? The method we are most familiar with follows this pathway: JING to QI to SHEN, then you leap over TAIJI into WUJI. In this method we use the body to cultivate the energy (thrust) needed to propel the conscious SHEN out of the body and into the WUJI. However, long ago it seems there was a separation in the schools. One division came about the spiritual skills derived from meditation, well, through meditation, and when they reached the ultimate goal, they wrote down instruction manuals or transmitted their accumulated knowledge by word. But, there is another division, where Instead of passing on the information in word or written format, so that new disciples would have to start from JING to QI to SHEN on their own, the teachers rather used their established connection to the WUJI to directly connect their disciples' SHEN to the Wuji energy. In this second method, the disciples Bai Hui is opened immediately during the magical initiation carried out by the master and the energy begins to flow into the disciple from the WUJI, starting a SHEN > QI > JING process of transmutation, an inverse process to what we are normally used to! Disciples of such schools can directly connect to spirits and immortals existing in the WUJI for guidance and for energy. Further more. And this is quite interesting! It seems that practitioners of these schools, do not need to stop having sex. They can continue their sexual lives far into the practice of the school and manifestation of all manner of spiritual skill. The only other one I know that claims to do this is Mo Pai. When having a conversation with one practitioner of the system, a practitioner of over 20 years, he explained to me that JING is not semen. Ok, so I could agree with him on that, but it still didn't explain why us "normal" alchemy dudes had to meditate so much to cook the JING. And then it hit me! JING > QI > SHEN > QI > JING it is a closed loop system that works bidirectionally. All three of the treasures are actually the same one primordial energy but vibrating at different levels. So we make JING vibrate faster so that it begins to climb up the electromagnetic spectrum and produce QI, and then we vibrate QI higher up the EM spectrum to produce SHEN. (I know some people will say that's not possible! That you need to develop the ability of the body to process and digest and use energies of higher vibrations or you can cook your innards! But why? We have sunlight that we can't touch but can see and it interact with our body every day. We have radio waves of all sorts of frequencies travelling through our bodies from every which direction. Sure we haven't developed enough to seem them, but can you say they are not influencing our body's energetic function?) So you can manually increase the vibration of WOOD (JING) by rubbing two sticks together to create FIRE (QI) which emits heat and light (SHEN). There it is, JING QI SHEN. Conversely, you can use concentrated light to create fire to burn wood. SHEN, QI, JING! You can literally start the alchemical process from any of the treasures. You can start from JING or from QI or from SHEN. One will feed the other and they will nourish each other in the loop system. Which one we start to ACCUMULATE depends on whether we can find a resource for the respective energy. And what's the most common resource for us? - Of course JING! - So that's what we do, we accumulate that first, but with the reverse method, they get an infusion of SHEN by letting the master connect them directly to the WUJI through the Bai Hui so they can suck SHEN in. The process is completely reversed! Because of that, these guys don't have to stop having sex and rely on the JING to build the system but the SHEN instead, because that is where you start from! I suspect that this is how the Xiao Yao Pai system works, and once practitioners are initiated by the master, they immediately open their Bai Hui and connect to the Wuji to communicate with spirits and interact with SHEN level energetics. As you may know there will be an initiation event in London for Xiao Yao Pai next month. There will also be one in Virginia in the USA, you might be interested in checking it out if you live in the USA. I've heard some remarkable things from a number of different members practising the system. If you can make it to London by next month, check out the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/345257788909902/ Please share your thoughts.