ShinRa

So fat and glycogen doesn't count?

Yea I think that's the product of mindfulness, which is what some consider an aspect of higher consciousness I'd be careful with experimenting with Gamma though! For many reasons gamma is great but I believe it would be far too much for beginners to handle...heh.

Aim for Theta brainwaves or the Hypnagogic state. You can get a feel for it pretty easily by using brainwave entrainment although what Kajenx said is best for gaining the skill to do it alone.

How about using one's Jedi-mind-influence powers to become a powerful politician and make government leaders actually do their jobs and stop destroying our rights and freedoms, stop the wars and definitely stop the suppression of human capabilities...

Ah, I wish I could find it also! This type of thing is very common with companies paying for their own studies to be done...like...companies that create vaccines for example...also heard about this happening a lot in China.. :-/

Honestly, if you want power.....asking about it on TTB will do you no good. Most people here either tell you something like "You want power(s)?!? NO NO NO! You should cultivate compassion, kindness,love and a good heart!! All that other stuff is soooo not spiritual!"... I started meditation when I was in juvenile hall at 15 years old...I didn't gain any real abilities trying out MANY Qi Gong systems and Yoga meditations until I started investigating things on my own,piecing together whatever knowledge I could get from many ancient systems and practices...and finally, learning from a YOUNG shaman(shaman is not the correct term but it's what most westerners call them other than witch doctors) with great CONTROL over his abilities. So what does this have to do with your question? Well, to actually gain any abilities you must first gain awareness of your own energy and how it moves and functions inside of you. To do that, it requires getting into a deep meditation which means NO breath regulation or visualization (these things keep your brainwaves close to the alpha and beta ranges which obviously is not going to allow you to go deeper). Once in a trance/trance-like state (hypnagogic might be the proper term), the mind is quiet,with absolutely NO thoughts and you'll have enough clarity to really feel your energy working..you'll feel strong vibrations or what may be considered "strong" at this point at least. Another marker for being in this state is the ability to "see" through your eyelids! This is extremely common for those who actually make it to this state... But anyways, in that state is when all the training truly begins. Get to that state first THEN put your awareness on your LDT or Astral projection...etc.. This meditation is in SFQ btw, Chunyi Lin calls it "going into the Emptiness" I believe. It's also in Longmen Pai but called Yin Xian Fa. It is obviously called different names in different systems but that meditation is where it all truly begins!

If you wanna know what Yin feels like then get into a very deep state...something along the lines of the lower theta or delta brainwaves, then put your awareness (if you managed to not fall asleep and maintain your awareness) on your organs..there is a subtle force squeezing or better yet "holding together" everything. I can't feel Yin directly but I can feel its effects on my body and its various parts/"forms". Maybe others might have fortunately learned methods to actually control Yin

First off, stop thinking that you fit this description of whatever Drew said and look at it as though your body is doing things to make you aware of something that needs fixing. For example, if you eat something your body can't digest properly for whatever reason, you may have a bunch of symptoms as a result....like rashes, itching, swelling of the throat...etc. to let you know it cannot handle the substance. In your case it may be an issue with your nervous system (not trying to diagnose you here). So to consider yourself something based on an opinion of someone you don't know is nowhere in your best interest.

IME, visualizations and breathing practices can create feelings/sensations but they aren't permanent nor do they leave any lasting results. What gave me a serious increase in power and understanding of what energetic cultivation is all about, was learning how to use barely any effort to get into a state of consciousness where there are absolutely no random thoughts/mental chatter but very powerful awareness and clarity..sort of like going from sunshine to laser beams. -edit: forgot to write that within this state of consciousness is where your true work begins as far as internal alchemy and also realizing the effects of yin qi and yang qi and how they function within your body.

To start off, I mean no offense to anyone,their practice(s),goals and beliefs. I'm simply interested in why so many here on TTB will practice a system but then mainly dwell on the theoretical and philosophical aspects of Taoism, while not truly "diving in" on the actual qi gong/nei gong aspects which has enormous potential for so many things. For example, I see alot of people on here speaking in riddles and cryptic language and showing how intelligent they are regarding Taoist practices but never discussing how we can achieve great "things" called myths by modern man, miracles by the religious man and spiritual power by ancient man... What I'm truly questioning is... what are you all doing it for? I'm sure the ancients didn't become Taoists to philosophy and have intellectual debates, they wanted to understand nature...master it...and then overcome it..to no longer be bound to "cycles" and natural/universal laws but instead be outside of these "cycles" and above these laws...to be immortal! To defy aging and death(biologically and consciousness-wise) is to defy nature itself. So again, what are you all REALLY doing it for?

Lmao! Yeah that's true, the mo pai tards never cease to amuse me haha and maybe I'm being a bit too critical since this is only the internet and a forum for discussion like you said. The people reciting this crap and/or constantly showing their "intellectual elitism" pretty much prompted the creation of this thread hehe.

Could've sworn Qigong was Qigong (energy work/discipline) and I'm aware of everything mentioned...I was talking about others getting swamped in the philosophical and theoretical aspects of Taoism to the point of not doing or barely doing Qigong in any form. Like, for example, there are those who experience phenomenon and then there are those who talk about these phenomenon but have barely or never experienced any of what they speak of.

You know what, I think all of it is an illusion but some "paths" just work better for certain individuals so they'll be subjected to whatever is included in that "path". Certain things though, IMO, are called different names and have slightly different explanations for them but represent the exact same thing..

I understand and agree with what you're saying but to "let nature take its course" is IMO not applying the "will" or being a bit too passive. I see plenty of Christians and other religious people saying EVERYTHING was by God's will even though they obviously made these "events" happen on their own accord, and will forfeit their own "will" to become passive in life because "everything is God's will"... The reason why I oppose this idea is because of a serious illness I had earlier in life and if I would have let nature take its course and didn't oppose this "natural" illness I would have been dead by now. Maybe this doesn't make me a complete Taoist (whatever that means) but I feel like we have control over the course Nature takes...why? Because we are intelligent beings that are apart of the structure of nature just like our cells are intelligent and are apart of the structures our bodies..we have the power and every right to change its course as necessary. Love your posts btw, they give much food for thought. Thanks.

That's something definitely worth living up to, living in harmony with the world around me is one of my major goals. Thanks for sharing

Haha, will do! Thanks!

Truly excellent.

This is incredibly thought-provoking and helps give an understanding of why possibilities are...possible. Reminds me of mathematical formulas and programming software for example...if X=false then allowLevitation=true...awesome. The truth is very appealing indeed.. What I mean by "master nature" is fully assimilating with nature, not master it in the way one would master a martial arts technique or become the master of an animal. I agree that alot of these powers are natural side effects and not necessarily overcoming/defying nature (which again is very subjective based on one's perception of the phrase). My question then, is what is our true nature?

All good! It's necessary to have someone bring you back to reality sometimes, I need it myself at times. Thanks for that.

Like dancing..haha well put, and I'm glad you enjoy my question! To let Taoism become another mundane thing in one's life is like stripping an animal of its instincts. THIS ^^^ is what prompted me to create this thread..

Indeed, and it's extremely valid. There are alot of mystical writings with plenty of metaphors that actually have a solid, logical basis behind the mysticism. IMO, the mysticism provokes our inherent creative side but without logic to clarify/objectify it and provide a way to apply it in reality would be delusional(and sometimes dangerous).

Thank you and I appreciate the wisdom of your words! I totally agree we all must live within nature especially knowing we're apart of it anyway. I definitely will pretend I'm from Missouri lol, proof is mandatory.

Exactly! It's this intellectual elitism that's creating complexity out of something so simple. It's like trying to explain and argue all the many different properties of lava and why it's dangerous to walk in it because of XYZ, when we all know to simply....not walk in it. My friend, I wouldn't say finding contentment in this world is a delusional hope, but rather it's delusional to those who don't want to find contentment in this world. I don't have any posts about me "diving in", nor did I ever say that I "dive in" myself or that I'm somehow superior if that's what you think I'm implying by my original post. I'm just here out of interest to question why my fellow Taoists became Taoists in the first place. Also, I posted my question hoping to rekindle the fire in those that have lately been too passive in pursuing their goals. That was real interesting..thanks for the link! Awesome lol, my thoughts exactly. ^^ Who knows, achieving your goal may give you those powers as a by-product... That's true! The reason I asked this question though was for two reasons, which one was of course out of interest/curiosity and the other was to indirectly make others remind themselves why they were doing it in the first place.

I agree, my interest in powers decreased as well after experiencing oneness...but then that truth lead to the realization of many other things like for example, what we consider "death" or for better clarification, "cause of death", is extremely subjective... Of course the theoretical and philosophical aspects of Taoism allows one to have an understanding of their beliefs, IMO it's fundamental. What I'm mainly getting at is how some will get caught up in those aspects and sit around arguing and debating what is what instead of actually performing the practice itself and taking something so simple and making it unnecessarily complex... To be integrated with nature is like gently floating in a river,going wherever it takes you...to overcome nature is to change the river you're floating in. (What I mean by overcoming/defying nature is very subjective!) Awesome my friend. I guess the simplest way to describe what you're saying is with the words "intuition" and "balance".. What I meant by "defy nature" is extremely subjective and is just my way of saying to "break the cycle(s)" or Samsara as others call it. To say someone won't become physically or spiritually immortal is saying the universe is limited and that it's impossible therefore making the universe finite... IME with -oneness-, I "felt" that the universe is infinite in potential therefore infinite in possibility. Nobody knows everything about the universe, I definitely don't but I do know there is infinitely more to learn and no way anyone can say "how it works" so I must question and learn what "death" actually is and not just accept the dictionary definition for it. I agree living within nature is a goal of Taoism although there are lineages out there that would say living within nature is only the beginning... Your reason for doing it is shared by many and it's a wonderful thing how Taoism has released so many from the bondage of which we call "modern living".. You're absolutely right, I haven't dug deep enough here to find the treasures of personal experiences on the cultivation threads so my archeological skills must suck lol. Thanks for the reminder, I'll definitely be reading up on alot tonight!

Seems like you're the type of person who goes with the flow which is respectable and I feel like that "path" has its own benefits.. It may actually work better for you than others.. It's true everyone's nature has its own full expression and we should all flow with it, although, IMO we should guide it at times too