Title REQUIRED

[StressedByAMountainOfBooks]

Greetings fellow Daoists

 

unsure how I ended up here, but it looks interesting. Well, I can paint the bigger picture, if not the direct path. I developed an interest over the past years for Qigong, which led me to Shaolin, from where I came to Taoism and remembered a book I read once, the Tao of Pooh, which is not nearly as readable as I remember, but I remember it did a thing for me for a while a while back before it faded somewhat. After not reading that book again, I got some versions of TaoTeChing, listened a bit to Alan Wats, who brings it nicely I think, and found another book by Eva Wong, Taoism, an Essential Guide, leading me to getting too many other books, and I suppose following the subsequent rabbit hole I must have ended up here. So there, I do roughly know the path that led me here! 

 

Some interests, I am looking for more information on qi circulation methods, different methods and applications, qi gong in general, I ended up at internal alchemy, but I am still figuring that out. But if anyone has any suggestions, they would be much appreciated.

 

Always had the idea that someday I would like to retreat to the mountain for a while to cultivate myself full time, unimpeded by life as it tends to be, but I still have not gotten to it. If anyone has knowledge or experience, please do share. I am at the time in between jobs and projects so it could be a good time to get going.

 

I play go, if anyone is interested, please add me on ogs: https://online-go.com/player/753080/  I live in Belgium, in case anyone wants a live game!

 

I like reading, just learning things or fiction. Although it goes from a bit compulsive to a debilitating fiction addiction and then overflows into other media, it is partly under control for now. But it leads me to the next bit. Where I try to sell you this web novel, Cultivation Chat Group (hence username), it is hilarious and amazing, and for a moment when I found the forum I thought: "Well, you did it now, rabbithauled yourself into schizophrenia." If any of you have suggestions how to jumpstart my cultivation at the rather later than ideal age of 36, be it medicinal recipes, physical or internal techniques, please advise! 

 

There you go, a short introduction. I will be going through the forum to dig for more. 

 

In the meanwhile, thanks for having me!

 

 

[Trunk]

Welcome @StressedByAMountainOfBooks!

- Trunk

[Cobie]

Welcome to the forum.  Some threads that came to mind reading your OP:

Re. “internal alchemy”: 

 

Re. “retreat”:

 

Re. “jumpstart”:

 

 

 

 Enjoy the forum. 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Cobie

[Sleepy Bluejay]

I came up with a few hypothesis of internal alchemy which I'm still exploring, but I have had positive results so far. You are free to take a look.

- A sleepy Bluejay.

[Nungali]

Some times I think I should build another smaller cabin for people that want a 'mountain retreat ' .

 

You would have to pay money , but that would relieve you from what I have to do in my mountain ' retreat'  :

 

Store wood for winter heating and cooking , repair the chainsaw,   fill the back up water tanks,  repair the pump . cut the grass so you dont get overgrown and infested with tics, leeches spiders and snakes , repair the mower, buy fuel,  find a way to repel mosquitoes so you dont get any of the nasty diseases they carry here ,  build the shelter/ guest cabin , maintain the veggie garden ....

 

... or just live in the mountains in your own 'retreat'

[StressedByAMountainOfBooks]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the suggestions, I am going through them and filtering  Easy to have the thread as an anchor point too. 

 

@Nungali

 

Sounds like you have a business plan there! It would be a good side hustle, specially if you teach people some things that are good for them in the meanwhile. Post your prices when you are setup   Well, I imagine the question comes up more often.

 

 

tl;dr I want a Taoist style monastery-like place to  stay with a community where I can be taught, practice and work as needed to provide part of tuition, that is not a scam and is as close to the ancients as possible.

 

Retreating to a mountain, somehow I had not thought of it as a retreat, as in the yoga retreat type stuff people do, although I guess it could be similar, but fuck I hope it wont be as expensive. Actually I got the idea from the guys at Shaolin Temple Europe, they have some nice information online, although they also like selling it, and their retreats look interesting, but 1k for a long weekend is more than I can throw at it, although it might be worth it for some condensed information on a certain topic, it would not be what I look for when I say retreat. 

 

Living in the mountains is retreating to the mountain though, and what you describe is a lot closer to what I have in mind, maybe with some community so that these tasks can be shared while leaving more time for practice, and some teaching and discussion involved. 

 

At the Shaolin Temple Europe they do offer discipleship and you pay around 5-6k for a year of it. Which I suppose is close to what I want. Stay at a place, work when it is time for work, train when it is time for train, learn when it is time for learn, sleep for sleep and eat for eat. No need to worry about when to work to get what and do who you need. That is arranged for and you just play your part as instructed, kind of like society.  But tbh, although I have appreciation for Buddhism and Chang, just like Shaolin it is easy to see their value, I think for me it is a bit restrictive and dogmatic at times, plus they want people in perfect health of body (top sport checkup required) and mind, and I do not think I fit that bill. In fact a big part of the reason for wanting (if not always doing) this, is to develop health.

 

So could we have this in a Taoist jacket? Also less of the new school religious Taoist jacket, more of the older shamanic/philosophic/mystic Taoist jacket?

 

I know there are some schools around Wudan, but +-2k per month is also more than I can immediately afford, or it would last for less than a year and I would be both broke and homeless when I am out of money and get sent home, wherever that is then  

Also having the pictures of the same people and nearly identical texts on the websites of different schools, kind of screams scam, but that may be me. If anyone has any experience, please do advise.

 

So I guess what I want is a Wuxia novel style sect or academy that will let you do jobs like collecting medicinal herbs or hunting spirit beasts for compensation to pay for tuition if necessary and that will teach and guide on the cultivation road. A mortals journey to immortality, anyone?

 

Exaggerated? Perhaps..

[Nungali]

" Living in the mountains is retreating to the mountain though, and what you describe is a lot closer to what I have in mind, maybe with some community so that these tasks can be shared while leaving more time for practice, and some teaching and discussion involved."

 

My place is set within a community ... or as they used to be called  'commune'  . Its a good combination, I am on the outskirts , not 'in the thick of things'  as some are , so I can choose involvement or retirement .  In the past when it was more community focused ( guess why ?  *  ) we used our large community house for meals and  visitors  giving teachings . We have had Buddhist monks , an elderly Lama , Hare Krishnas, Ananda Marga , etc  visit and give talks and teachings .   We also ran a  center for western esoteric stuff at well, focused on my place .

 

The intention of the place was always to offer a space to explore and learn spirituality , but undefined , it was left up to the individual or groups as to what particular path they wanted to take .

 

*  before the age of internet / mobile phones and social media .

[NaturaNaturans]

On 9.11.2023 at 10:40 PM, Nungali said:

Some times I think I should build another smaller cabin for people that want a 'mountain retreat ' .

 

You would have to pay money , but that would relieve you from what I have to do in my mountain ' retreat'  :

 

Store wood for winter heating and cooking , repair the chainsaw,   fill the back up water tanks,  repair the pump . cut the grass so you dont get overgrown and infested with tics, leeches spiders and snakes , repair the mower, buy fuel,  find a way to repel mosquitoes so you dont get any of the nasty diseases they carry here ,  build the shelter/ guest cabin , maintain the veggie garden ....

 

... or just live in the mountains in your own 'retreat'

Id join in a heart beat. Buuut somehow i got a feeling that one of my cabins is better suited for a mountain retreat than yours. But i guess the vast land of the aussies has a lot of geographic variations

 

———-

edit: looking at Your latest post i see you have it all set up, so nvm the above statement

Edited November 13, 2023 by NaturaNaturans

[Nungali]

2 hours ago, NaturaNaturans said:

Id join in a heart beat. Buuut somehow i got a feeling that one of my cabins

 

You have cabinS ?  Tell us about them / it .

 

 

 

2 hours ago, NaturaNaturans said:

 

 

 is better suited for a mountain retreat than yours. But i guess the vast land of the aussies has a lot of geographic variations

 

———-

edit: looking at Your latest post i see you have it all set up, so nvm the above statement

 

Desert, rainforest,  and just about everything in between , but no BIG mountains .   Like many places we have our 'specific strangeness'

 

 

 

 

 

 

One reason my locality is popular with tourists is  that within a half hour  driving radius you have nearly  'alpine' country ( Aussie style ) ,  rain forest,  wilderness areas, rivers   numerous waterfalls (local main road is called 'Waterfall Way '  * ) World heritage national parks , beaches ,  a marine park , islands,  etc .

 

* 

https://www.walkmyworld.com/posts/waterfall-way

[NaturaNaturans]

1 minute ago, Nungali said:

You have cabinS ?  Tell us about them / it .

Made it sound more special then it is. Thing is, Norway is basically the same size as germany/italy/uk etc, but with 10-20times less population. So a lot of space, every native family has at least one, maybe two. And then you inheiret a farm or maybe a small summer house, and yeah, quickly accumilates. But it is nice. 

 

[Gerard]

On 10/11/2023 at 10:02 PM, StressedByAMountainOfBooks said:

 

I know there are some schools around Wudan, but +-2k per month is also more than I can immediately afford

 

Is this how much the Chinese Gov. is charging nowadays for that tourist trap?

 

Unreal. Stay away from the mainland unless you go to the major cities and learn from a reputable teacher linked to one of the legit. IMA lineages. Beijing is the best place for that.