Jonas

It's ok. I can relate to this. I had a periods where my Jing built up. I was feeling uncomfortable and hot and was probably quite "deranged". Like gasoline filled over without an engine consuming it. I think transmutation first happens when you go deeper into stillness over longer periods. It happens from the "void" so to say. This would be the "Yin"-part of it all. After such longer meditations the Jing is really converted to chi and then to Shien / Ojas / Spiritual energy. But this is just descriptions / models that more or less approximate reality. All I can say is that you feel stronger and more robust, get a deeper voice, have less illness and have a a general radiance. For me those practices is about higher quality of life. Also worth mentioning, the first month or so of daily meditations the general built up darkness and obstructions in the body seems to slowly loosen up and one may think nothing is happening, it is just uncomfortable and painful. But after a longer period light begins to be felt and you feel more and more of the positive effects. It's like big black blocks that are slowly melted and loosened and converted to pure chi. Then comes a point where you might feel more like energy / spiritual than material. The theories of internal alchemy talks about Kan and Li. The fire of awareness (mind / heart) enter the kidney waters and the chi starts to sublimate. If you just meditate without the "Kan"-foundation (that is a supply of Jing) it can lead to lightheadedness and general weakness. So both sides are dependent on eachother. (In classical Daoism they are referred to as Nature and Life). Weather or not testosterone is lessened by this I cannot say but you feel strong, balanced and have more vitality.

This is a rather serious matter. Excuse me for a long post.. but I find it a subtle and important topic worth elaborating on. We are talking about transmutation of the creative / sexual energies. Basically the human body is an alchemical laboratory that digests and transforms grosser matter to finer. In Indian Ayurveda they identify 7 gross / material levels - the last one being reproductive fluid (the same for men and women by the way :-): * food * chyle or digested fluids * blood * flesh / muscles * fat * bone / marrow * reproductive fluids Now, first of all - in order to do transmutation at all - we need to have all the seven levels more or less complete and full. That is - we need to be bodily healthy (a sick person cannot transmute) physically fit (an anemic or a person that fast cannot transmute) and not over-train (in a damaged and tired body all energy will go to repair) overwork (the same as previous but mental) overindulge in the senses (food, etc - energy goes to digestion) over-consume social media, tv etc. (energy wasted on vanity, pride, envy, anticipation, worries, etc.) overdo the sex-thing (reproductive fluid wasted) (Here is a good thread on it: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/18866/how-to-increase-ones-ojas-capacity) So when the reproductive fluid is formed in a healthy manner (and charged after a certain period of calm living) it is ready to be transmuted. If we want to be a bit methodological / technical there are two methods here that work in unison: 1. Breathing in Sushumna or spinal breathing (central channel - Governor - DU) This comes when we are very calm and focused and our nostrils are equally open. There is a small trick / key to measure. If one of your nostrils are blocked you are not in Sushumna - you are either to the right (Pingala) or left (Ida). If both are balanced - a calm will spread - and you will breath correctly. This breathing gives rise to more Pranic / deep breathing (less ratio of air to energy) and fetal breathing (breathing almost converge / stops in a point close to the navel). It is fairly easy to self-regulate this. Just "intend / feel" how the blocked passage is opened up. (here is a good primer on this technical stuff: https://www.swamij.com/kundalini-awakening-1.htm) 2. Combining rising chi (prana) with downward going chi (apana) by bellows breathing and locks (squeezing). Damo Mitchell calls the phase "fire breathing" since when the upper combines with lower there arises friction that will create heat. When there is heat down there the most subtle essence of the reproductive fluids begins to steam / transmute much in the same way an alchemist distill a tender essential oil form a plant. The more spiritual and volatile part of it goes over first with a little heat. Now we may ask - how is this possible since the reproductive fluids are physical? There is no such channel.. The answer is not only that it is converted to immaterial / spiritual chi. It has also to do with quantum tunneling. That is - the "ormus" part (the alchemical essence of the fluids) are the one that steams up and they can go trough physical barriers trough this process. So when that happen you can gently gently "lead" it up from the "perineum" trough the coccyx and up the spine as you feel the current. When it come up to the brain you can continue to circle it down again - and then up - etc., so a circulation is preformed - it is sometimes referred to as "refining the honey". I would also argue that you can leave it just by itself. Since when the brain - that is cooler - receives the steam - it will condense. Now you have it in the brain as "Ojas" - as the Ayurvedists calls it. From here on it is relatively safely stored. If you dont trasmute it up to this stage it will become old and will leave your body sooner or later (like apples that are not picked off the tree in right time and made juice of). Then our Pineal gland will filter it and convert it to a kind of soma-substance called "Amrit" or "Nectar". It is called so since it is a condensation of the Ojas into a rather thick, oily, cool and sweet substance. When the brain or the whole cerebrospinal fluid are saturated with this substance it begin to drop down and you can feel it in the mouth. I can attest it tastes sweet - like a sweet thickish flower-nectar. And what more: it feels nice - like being bathed in an elixir of youth that makes you really strong in body, mind and speech. (You will know when you have some of this. Depression is gone. Magical things will happen since this substance is intelligence and healing itself and close to the most perfect rejuvenative medicine for body and mind.) Note that before it condenses you might fell a little dizzy or like there is a cloud of energy - there actually is. But when it condenses to concentrated Ojas it will instead refill and invigorate your brain to youthful conditions (if you're older) or more towards genius if you are young. Now to your question. The fire-process can also be "stimulated" in a non-attachment way. But that is a secondary process. If you are young and have saved the energy that process should be spontaneous for example in nighttime when you naturally will produce much of this. It will linger on un-transmuted during the day. If you don't transmute it (don't care for breathwork and meditation anymore) and it is produced it will linger on and fall down your legs and it will just be troublesome. You can feel the warm current. It needs to be refined. At the same time you work on the "upper part" - that is the 3 upper chakras - the shien / light and cultivate that. It will ameliorate with the stored Ojas in the brain and the alchemy continues. An interesting thing is that I have studied and experimented with outer alchemy (for 3 years or so) and it is striking to notice how much inner and outer alhemcy have in common.. The Ojas - also the Soma - nectar - is something you can distill or concentrate out of a good source of water (that is - natural water or rain-water - or best dew-water).. It is the "ormus"-part of water. Ormus is a special state of matter - known to the ancient alchemists as the "seedform" and "rediscovered" by David Hudson in the 1990'ies. It is basically atoms that are freed from their bonds with other atoms - that is free from crystalline structures and having their electrons bound up in cooper pairs - dancing together by quantum resonance - and forming super-conducting Bose-Einstein-Condensates at room temperature. This new state matter can have properties like quantum tunneling, levitation, disappearance or reappearance, sympathetic resonance with substances far apart, etc., etc. Basically the air is full of it. That is part of the energetic prana or chi. I experimented wit making ormus the usual way with dead sea salt and potassium hydroxide - but instead of taking distilled water as the modern receipts say - I felt that that would try ormus-water instead. Lo and behold - the substance - after one-two months of low temperature digestion (something that in my view is essential that is also left out in the modern recipes) at summertime on my upper floor - it actually tasted like sweet violets - and really induced my energy. So I concluded this outer experiment was in certain parallel with the inner alchemy of soma-drops. Interesting.. at least to me :-) By the way: in my view everything about practical alchemy (WeiDan in Daoist terms) is more or less true. The elixir that rejuvenates, the transmutation of metals, etc., and it can all be explained by incorporating quantum mechanics and also understand that everything is modifications from the same source - consciousness and can be brought back to that. (consciousness->energy->matter->energy->consciousness). (If you feel you have interest to study this - very good books are: The way of the Crucible - Robert Bartlett, Real Alchemy - Robert Bartlett, The Elixir of Immortality: A Modern-Day Alchemist’s Discovery of the Philosopher’s Stone Robert E. Cox. Also https://ormus.tesla3.com/science-behind/) About Mantak Chia I am VERY sure he is authentic in the way he studied with Daoist masters - and were taught the right processes. It is just that he is a bit light on it in his books - giving the impression that it is something you can go at very quickly. He is sometimes also not so ordered and updates his methods now and then and I notice that they have removed his book "Taoist secrets of Love".. But that being said - he has tons of knowledge and I have got some good info from him. However the method (maybe more related to men) where you are close to 100% and you stop by force and force it up.. it is really not good. It is a violence on the body since the prostate gland is ready to execute. This mode or "readiness" of the organs don't slow down so quick. It can be swollen enlarged for longer periods. In the end you can attract diseases.. So its best to stop with that anyhow. Damo Mitchell is clear about that a prerequisite for inner alchemy to happen is first of all removing a certain amount of your "body armour" - that is your blockages and stored emotional charges. Secondly it is saving up - as I wrote in beginning of this answer - "the 100 day virgin period". Thirdly it is a sequential application of inner breathing exercises that is to be followed very precisely. Then it could work and you may have real experiences and awakening what is called "kundalini". I also think - as previous poster said about Karezza - that it will work as long as there is true love and mutual intent to rise spiritually. But to just force it up - well - it can bring up wrong energies that is too coarse and it could lead to blockages and pain, fatigue and weakness. "Poisoned fire entering the heart". I have for a period experiencing this.. it was a period I should have rested but I tried to force such practices against my intuition - and I really felt like garbage circulating in my system..

Little from my experiences thoughts of it. If you resonate with it, I can share more.. this is just some observations / notes. Also: this is not only form a Daoist perspective but more general. Can be like this: You start by entering into silence. Look from above down. Feel the bliss. Eyes will merge into one. You will naturally enter reverse abdominal breathing (if not - just have weak intention to). Then you will naturally lift perineum. This will stimulate the downward-tending apana (earth / water in alchemy) to be warmer and tend to rise. It is the ”beginning of the awakening of the dragon or snake”. Later on in-breath will naturally be longer. Also out-breath. Note: if they are labored / forced it is not the right thing. You are not there. All this should come naturally from natural mind. Its like you ”melt down” into the breathing and it start to melt / dissolve body. Also breathing will be more energizing. I am not here talking about ”hsi” or total stoppage of breath. It is a much later stage between in and out breath that can last very long time. When in and out are long, smooth and energized you will also feel body filled with prana (upward tending apana). Later on the naturally upward tending prana will go down as well.. but not yet.. Next step here is that you will naturally pause between in and out breath. Also you will make ”clicks” in the beginning of each phase of in / hold / out / hold phase. Its like becoming very robotic but yet powerful. Next stage is naturally staying longer in Hold after inbreathe. Now ”Chinese” breathing will naturally change to ”Tibetan Tummo” (”strong fire” in Daoist terms). You will be doing vase-breathing. (Again: This is naturally.. not forced). Now you are beginning to mix the red now upward going (naturally downward tending) apana with the white upward tending prana (air and fire in alchemy). These two elixirs you hold ”in the middle”. That is in the centre of your central pillar - the lower Dan Tien. (This is one of 4 natural places you can work with). What now happens is that the red and white channels will empty, mix and holding it will sublimate it (by non-thought) and on out breath the pure part will rise.. The residuals will stay or be ejected for later purification. You have reached a balance-point. It is the coming together of the toad and the raven. So many different alchemical allegories exists where two animals (in western tradition they begin by being chained) coming together.. A ”terrible fight” ensures (”water / fire”) And later they devour each other.. Leaving a confused mass.. the old body ”dies” to be putrified in ground at them same time the unified energy is capable (trough series of further transformations) of giving a new birth - this means the advent of a ”new body” within the old one. The continual nourishment to this new body happen since energy flow now is now inverted / sucking inwards not outgoing anymore. Among else upward energy will condense down like rain (fountain of youth / soma), salivation is greatly enhanced, and one becomes more blissful, vast and direct like the archetypical hero or a wise child. Many have reached this state / new body.. read about the Christian saint ”Christina the astonishing”.. she rose from the coffin in the church at her funeral and continued to live astonishing. But before anything of this can happen an energetic awakening / meltdown and purification of the elements should first have occurred where the channels are relatively empty / pure. There are practices for this written in many books, but the traditions have until now been kept hidden. I can write more of this. But it is of no use if not studied and meditated upon again and again by reading the western and eastern true alchemical scriptures and by doing practice carefully and consistent so all can be verified for oneself. This reversal and interplay with apana and prana, up and down, conjunction, fixation, is expressed in the ”Emerald Tablet” - a small text contains ”the whole three staged secret” - belonging to Western Alchemy (but gives no practical clues though). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet. A general note about such practices: they must be done in a non-forced way from stillness. Forcing breath and doing it while having random thoughts could lead to ”wind / chi”-problems. That is some sickness, headaches, tiredness, paleness can come. If you hear cracks and pops in the walls of your house, don’t panic, its no poltergeist ;), in fact it can be a good sign. This pertains to shedding unwanted energies in your aura while becoming centered. Also: Don’t take this as a guide, just general outline. All this is very much detailed described in the true Nei Dan or Haha Yoga scriptures. And even with them you are better in having a true teacher. Avoid temptation to ”cool down” practice with talking to everyone about it, except for inspiring likeminded, have integrity and honesty. Bodily health is said to be a requisite for alchemy. What is it really? Well when I was an employee working 8 hours 5 days a week my body weren’t deeply relaxed. The gut-brain axis has a deep relationship to our overall health. Now when my eyes meet in centre and I look down to my navel-bliss-centre I experience bliss and joy and deep relaxation. I am seldom depressed (as I were in my 20’es sometimes with school and all) and seldom stressed. Depression and stress are due to taking life too seriously, taking in others problems and trying to manage the boxed life-style. It ends quickly our batteries, vitality and energy due to leakages physically and mentally. So heal your gut / brain by eating much natural Whole Foods, probiotics (fermented foods like sauerkraut), good protein, fats, less of stimulants, remineralize yourself with shilajit, natural herbs, green juicing, etc. As little vaccinations and medicines as possible. Exposure to the 4 elements - sun, pure water, pure air / wind outside, earth, barefoot if can. Yoga retreat and vacation.. perfect combination. If you can.. try to fix a more easy source of income (I rent out my summerhouse and have an own small IT-business requiring about 3 hours daily) so you can ”get away”, really come to terms with yourself and your practice. Allow yourself downtime - rest often. And slowly start study and practice. If we are stressed.. its like the light of wisdom cannot penetrate and bliss cannot melt and flow since we are always in a tensed mode. Here comes the work with body amour, tensions, etc., in muscles and emotional things.. The fire of alchemy can work that out but also Vipassana meditation and to constantly center yourself. If I sit down to take a cup of coffee or tee in the sofa.. and I start to think about something that happen.. I am far too the ”right”.. If I start to daydream about someone.. I am to the left.. If I just sit down and enjoy the cup relaxing, center myself in my body as well.. I am in centre.. there is practice of middle path. Note about heat: heat is not a goal. But fire is the thing start kindling that will allow alchemy to work. Alchemy without fire is impossible. But some uncomfortable heat is ”wild fire”. IN fact heat in Tibetan tradition is sometimes a sign of unbalance and sidethoughts. But heat can be felt in two occasions: when finer energies devolve to grosser (like becoming upset, forced, angry, etc.) or the reverse. The reverse is better. Therefore it is felt heat in the sacral chakra when we begin to ”rise the dragon” and when stale earth-energy in legs begin to melt (like molten steel) and travels up to purify. This is good fire at right place. But any uncomfortable heat spreading in body is likely ”false fires” or ”clumsy fire”. Alchemists have talked about a ”natural warmth” like spring warm. Like a perfect balance of earth, water, air and fire. This is the stone, just chaotic in beginning and perfect in end. This is the alchemical working matter, the mercury. Like warmth of hen hatching her eggs. You can also think like this: in an electrical board very high tension can be running and making some very complex, wonderful and useful device. It is still cool and calm despite its immense power and versatility. But if there is a shortcut it will burn, become hot and break down. SImilary in a nuclear power station. Also, one could not overlook the rebirthing and alchemical power of true love between opposite sex by not forcing the sexcenter. It can truly make some change in a person but not to forget is that the ”true marriage” is between our True Yang and True Yin poles.. of ”Heaven and Earth”. The talk of ”left” and ”right” path just means beginning with ”body / energetics” or beginning with theory / knowledge side referring to the two first primal divisions of the One - left and right. Both paths if practiced correctly leads to the Middle path - the central channel - the balanced path - if not - it has little to do with alchemy. Also very advanced stages.. it is said mostly are occurred between in and out breath. That is with apana / prana - red / white - female / male perfectly balanced in the middle central channel. Various ”siddhis” can occur according to the four characters of the planets (macro) chakras (micro) levels. It is said that the first 4 lower levels corresponds to mastery / absorption of the four (or sometimes five) elements. Each level is protected and involves challenges. After this you become a wise white ”Gandalf” - that is a magician with power over elements (wether you want it or not is another question altogether Everything ”incredible” in western and eastern alchemical texts applies here. The next three stages in the brain - (throat to crown) is the last third crown / work of alchemy - where you will completely transformed. It is a question of 1. Right understanding of theory.. leading to.. 2. Right practice (also food, lifestyle), 3. High etics / vibration / intention. Some make mistake of saying that kundalini rising is one-sided since it doesn’t ”bring back energies down”. What the true ancient Vedic and Yogic Sutras ment by Kundalini-rising was in fact the ”whole work”. It was jing to chi. Chi to Shen. Shen to Tao. The ”coming down”-idea belongs to a stage when you first start to purify the MCO and other such stuff. It is important but has nothing to do with kundalini absorbing the levels of existence. Kundalini rises in the central channel - that is in the ”prenatal” not in the derived channels. It is the final absorption. And it is said alchemy scriptures were brought long time ago from India to China, Tibet, Middle East and also Europe. Thus we have their likeness. But there is some hesitation here maybe .. A partial rising of prana and balanced states with various heats, imbalances and blisses. This occur in a semi-purified body and will result in semi-relative-awakenings. This can be good to experience but will force you to retrace the practice and begin again at some level where you have not worked it throughly. So alchemy if done properly is something very great (if not ”all”). The preparation stage is the purification and sitting, etc. Its middle stage is true HA-THA-yoga (SUN/MOON-MIX-YOGA). It is NEI (inner) DAN (pill) - the fixated result of mixing and heating the white and red elixirs. It is the process with AL-(God powered)-KHEM (black fertile mass). Its last stage is ”RAJA / ROYAL” - yoga and growth of the divine body. It is Birth of Embryo (Daoism) and ejection from brain - spirt reborn in Tao. It is the rebirth and Crowning of the Red King (western). The stable state of the Clear Wisdom / Illusory, Diamond and Rainbow body of Tibet. It will give ”stabilization” (also called ”immortality”) in spiritual planes even after shedding physical body at natural age. About this mysterious mercury or force always to be kept hidden by the western alchemists.. the Prana of Yoga and Chi of Daoism.. The one pertaining earth and heaven.. makes connected and spacious.. Well..Yoda in StarWars (George Lucas had this kind of knowledge by the way) said it well : "For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere! Yes, even between the land and the ship." ―Yoda, lecturing Luke on the Force Worth reading: Daoist: Damo Mitchell - White moon on the mountain peek.. - very good explanations! I like it a lot. Another view of the Practical Process of Daoist Inner Alchemy (translated by Hu Xuezhi) http://www.taoiststudy.com/taoist_alchemy/whole-process-taoist-internal-alchemy The secret of the golden flower Taoist yoga and immortality (Zhao Bichen) - often referred on TTB - good but read carefully with intuition. Requires much understanding to convert to practices. Yoga: Parana and Pranayama - Swami NIranjananda Saraswati Complete teachings about Prana - fundamental for alchemy - from one of the real lineages today in India - (includes the great guru / teacher Swami Sivananda). Very good since the tradition has many roots from India / Tantra. Patanjali some 2000 years ago was one of the first one to really formalize it. If one reads with intuition one sees all the similarities. Some people involved in NeiDan claim that ”they don’t work with the kundalini” and such. Kundalini or the Evolutionary Force is the one real alchemical agent of reality / awakening. One cannot bypass this. The mechanisms in body, energy body, levels of existence, pranas, etc., are the same In all traditions - how could the not be?? But the descriptions and symbology varies but with intuition and openness one can read ”trough the lines” and see similarities between Western, Chinese, Yoga, Tibetan etc. Tibetan: Bliss of inner fire - Lama Yeshe - inspirational readings - not complete path. Loco Austrico on Tummo - http://alayapragmatica.blogspot.se/2012/11/instructions-on-tummo.html - a personal experience - not a ”complete teaching”. Western (somewhat obscure - needs some familiarity with western alchemical ideas and a lot of intuition) "Alchemy and Mysticism" by Alexander Roob - super inspirational if reading and pondering over the images.. "The Hermetic Seal" - Old Print: https://archive.org/details/hermeticaltriump00limo Thomas Vaughan - "Coelum Terrae" - http://www.levity.com/alchemy/vaughan1.html Jean d'Espagnet - "The Hermetic Arcanum": http://www.levity.com/alchemy/harcanum.html Mixing different traditions? Well its good (IMHO) to have a general understanding. It will benefit practice. But if you find a school with knowledge you will follow their technique since the teachers there will be able to correct mistakes or give feedback / inspiration when needed.

Hi bax, I will explain a bit about "dark night".. and give little of my conclusions from my own path: You are going through a kind of "withering" process much like what happens in autumn in nature where the old plants whiter down to earth for the winter to come. So next year it will bloom again but with more beauty since the winter has cleared all weeds out. Congratulations, since most peoples life is about resisting this withering / change to always uphold their habits, routines, likes, dislikes, etc. There is a reason we are left with lesser energy. With lesser energy we aren't able to uphold our old habitual patterns, desires and ego-structures anymore and after a certain time, ranging from months to years depending the individual, a period not without reasons was named "dark night of the soul", we will get back our spirit / energy in a pure form and then it will shine in us and operate very efficiently, since the old structures are smoothed out. In meditation, one day, our new spirit will return like a sunrise of a new aura of clear light that will make us feel reborn and fresh anew. Call it awakening if you like, but you can also call it purification. This not only happen one time, this cycle is repeated, it is like a Sinuswave, but its amplitude are higher and frequency lower first time then it evens out more and more until you come into a kind of stable balance between action and nonaction, between death and rebirth. In my path the worst blockages and patterns were delt with first so the first "winter" was the worst one. It was a period of deep states of depression, weakness, insomnia, emptiness and feeling like being possessed by various energies. Once the process has started there is no return. You cannot repair a broken vase. Sometimes you might feel you have to "act" when dealing with "ordinary" people. But to act consciously is enjoyable since you will not take things so personally or seriously and between the acts you sink back to your source.

Thanks for understanding RV! ) I just felt to add part II of that story to make it more complete.. About one year later, 6:th of may year 2001, that morning after some practices, I felt a new energy descend down trough my head (as I now interpret as the heavenly chi) and at same time an earthly one coming below trough my feet. It forced out all bad energy in me and I became gradually erected and I understood it was what I now identify as the TaiChi-Pole forming and at that time I felt it like "being a pillar of light in the temple of God" (sorry for the pretentious words, but it was how I felt). After having this pillar erected it came down to harness and strengthen it by long walks in nature, some qigong-like exercises and meditation on rocks and natural places. Then it also expanded outward as I felt. There were more like a transparent spirit-field, not the thick energy with colors , phenomens etc. anymore as one year before.. I also felt it was quite sensitive, that you had to take care of it and living in balance, else it could shift, it was like this state wanted to say "You protect me I will protect you". The thing is not to be preoccupied by energy for its own sake, because if you do, you will likely work with a false thing, only search the impersonal truth.. But for that to happen to (me at least) I think a kind of "rebirthing" was needed, since before 1999 I was a quite closed person full of blockages and with a thick shell. So all that potential energy had to melt down to harness vitality. So it is three things at least from my way / perspective 1. Being able to recieve the higher heavenly chi from above trough our brain, descending as it were in Christian terms "The Holy Spirit coming down in us". 2. Absorbing up the Earthly Chi of Mother Earth from below to make it connect with 1. (Right grounding). 3. To circulate your own energy (Jing) in microcosmic orbit. (meditation). When this foundation is established you are really healthy and feel erect, light and strong and your aura expands and grows by itself. I also want to add: All peoples path are different depending on our conditions and mindset.. I want to describe my own experiences and try to extract some points in it.

Mantak Chia is a Chirstian and considered Jesus an Taoist. Trough Taoism and Alchemy I have come to a new understanding of Christianity, even if I have much to learn still. There is an ongoing debate wether Jesus existed or not.. To that I feel that the truth is in between: he didnt exists in the image chuch gives to him, but the character behind definitely existed! He was a wandering mystic that tought people Gnosis and he won reputation as a healer and teacher in concurrence with (the more intellectual) Appolonius of Tyana, Simon the Magus and some more influential teachers that gathered people around that times. His father Joseph belonged to the Essene-community (an early ecological community actually) and he taught his son a lot as well. Too much mysticism, solemnity and sacramental rituals has evolved around Jesus.. He was a practical and charismatic person, that recommended a simple, "sinfree", daoist, spiritual, ecological lifestyle with daily Sadhama as opposed to big houses and comfortable lifestyle (the same as the Daoist masters). Its also suggested that there was many similarities between the Pythagorean group and the Essenes. I have an interest in how the Essenes lived.. To understand more of the ecological brotherhood that was the Essene's I suggest: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Essene-Way-Biogenic-Living/dp/0895640198 another good read: http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/jae/jae03.htm

In answer to the op you are totally on the right path. Preserving Jing and transform it trough meditation is the simple path that will take you home. Also to be with a woman that balances you is right. I am not surprised that many qigong-masters are married and have family. There are absolutely no contradiction and totally normal. Mans energy are mainly like a line |. Womens are mainly O. If you cross a movement along a line with a circular one you get the C (Spiral). Just I makes no energy-consciousness-space, just O also not. But the spiral is energy in movement and creates light-consciousness-space, creative room. Whole universe is built on that. All particles rotates and they rotates along lines of other rotations. The cosmic dance. The planets creates our space-time-matter by spiraling movements. This could mean exchanging energy just by being near eachother (man / woman). Alternatively you cultivate your own yin/yang poles in yourself in meditation / celibacy. Or making both work with the right mate. If your partner is not in your phase he / she will benefit and learn and eventually catch up. Wrong partner will drain, right will make you happy, shining. Also ordinary couples that don't cultivate consciously have the "couples happiness" that shines in them and make them strong as long as they keep their hearths faith. "Space of polarity" (From Mantak Chia - Taoist secrets of Love). Ancient Egypt (Akenathen Epoch) Selfcultivation (celibacy) of own yin / yang poles by meditation alchemical mixing: However to use sex as an excuse to "lighten your pressure" and squander your lifeforce is self-destructive. Anyway this path is practiced by 95% of population so its totally mainstream and not a very interesting one.

There is a very interesting intermediate phase in cultivation where we melt down our old structure giving birth to an open energy-field. I have felt extremely real energy-sensations in myself. After some weeks of "circulation of light"-meditations about 15 years ago I triggered a process that was like a nuclear meltdown (in a positive way:) in myself. It released two energy-balls going up my spine, trough my body, working in all centers, brain, arms and legs giving me a total "washout". This period lasted about 2 months for me. I was in an ecstasy and the released energy gave me an expanded field of magnetic energy. It involved sexually, emotions, brain, all at same time. I experienced an expansion like "yeasing of the aura". I distinctly felt the sensation of black matter in myself, actually not so metaphorical but rather literal black floating oil that after time became more white, thinning and became more volatile during the process. But I regard that phenomenas as a part of an opening process. In Daoist terms you could express it as all qi-pathways are totally cleared out and your original prenatal energy activates in them. Imagine what a revolution when the larvae-puppy opens up to become a real butterfly. Then after that you live as an "energy-conscious" person. Its like going back to normal but your consciousness field is expanded and blended into the environment. I have to say that period was ecstatic, paradisaical, blissful and extremely invigorating, like being reborn. This period might followed by some "siddhis" and the like because of the heightened energy. Healing abilities might be one of them. So that is the phase of "fiery water" that melts down the "four elements" in ourselves with the fifth essence as an ordering one. So I think we should not seek these things, they come a result of a phase in our development and it is a blessing. It might follow a period of adjustment time of some years that is not totally happy. But ultimately we must learn to handle energies in wise ways. Even what you think of will have direct implication! If you are open energy goes directly to where your thoughts are, you will be a creator in your time, you will really affect things and the mental atmosphere. So its important to understand to be open to energy requires some maturity. Below some pictures of this alchemical process.. I cannot say how much Adam Mcleans website about alchemy http://www.alchemywebsite.com/ ment to me during the process. The images on his site really describes the inner process in great ways. I recommend you to visit this site and even if the pictures are from medieval times they are timeless in its profound symbolic expression. In those times people lived with less distractions and some of them diligently pursued the path of inner sanctity and liberation and the most profound philosophers of them all were the alchemists. Some pictures from that site.. First picture.. dark matter meltdown and four elements in chaos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvbcw1q-DfE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxx4x2S2brM

The qigongmaster says "collect qi in morning and sublimate it in the evening". To collect Qi means to convert Jing to QI via transmutation exercise. Use breathing combined with will to transmute energy up the spine. Let it then flow down the functional channel by itself to be collected in lower Dan Tien. In evening you might do the same exercise but together with silent meditation in order to sublimate it (raising it to higher levels and even Shien). However its easy to say if you already opened MCO, if not it might take time to get it opened and free from blockages. But persistence in the transmutation exercise helped me. Its very important not to leak Jing, to have the "gate of death" closed and to transmute it upwards. The energy transforms in quantum stages, not gradually. That is suddenly, after a long hour of persistent quality meditation, you might feel a comfortable rush, something goes up your spine or whole body, thats the Jing that transforms to Chi and gets subtler. EDIT: But its difficult to say depending on where you are, the practice you do etc. If you haven't done it, I definitely recommend you to read Mantak Chias "Taoist Secrets of Love". It covers both single and dual cultivation. He has a method called "Testicle breathing" that is very good in making the energy work up in its yin-state.

One more thing important: When you meditate check your mind constantly so it doesn't wander. Concentration - but not a mental one with a lot of effort - is the key. It is better with 10 minutes of single minded concentration than 4 hours of inner pointless gazing. There is a time later in the meditation process where focus might give place for a session Dhyana or a period of extended Dhyana over some months, but this is special cases when you can relax concentration and you are naturally drawn to single mindedness. Think it like we try to make a pile of leaf burn by collecting the suns rays trough a magnifier glass. You must find the right focal point and hold it steadily for some critical time. Its the same with meditation. Some people never reach quality meditation since their mind wanders even in subtler levels. When meditate all egoistic concerns and thoughts must be sacrificed. When I invited a Buddhist lama in my house for a group of people over a weekend.. the night when I was in meditative state, I felt the lamas concern to transfer his "dharma" to me energetically. I conveyed to his heart: I don't want any energy / healing or things from your teachings since it will oblige me to follow your tradition. Else its just a waste of your dharma. He understood and I never recieved anything. I just think we should be conscious of what we take in. Its chocking to see people receiving "Diksha" or healings from this or that master without knowing anything about it. They end up with threads of energy sources to all kind of groups and people. Its better to rely on your own source and a deeper meditation session will heal everything in an instant.

Just to clarify.. while Frequent ejaculation => male baldness and graying of hair is true like you say (for those with inheritance for a DHT sensitive scalp ..) ..don't make the error of turning it an equivalence by suggesting the reverse Male baldness => Frequent ejaculation For it is not true. Several of the most regarded spiritual teachers... George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, Sri Swami Sivananda, Oscar Uzcategui just to mention a few of them that even were known to teach about the importance of working with the sexual essence, of mind chastity, etc., all were bald at very early age. I am quite sure none of them ejaculated at all or at least at a very low rate. So dont be baffled about qigongmasters being bald or even consider it an important matter.. Its simply inheritance / DHT sensitivity. Also if you save a your Jing you must transmute regularly else you really could get an overload of testosterone witch in a later stage might turn to DHT. Just to avoid any simplistic presumption that a person with bald hair must have been a fornicator even if the probability might increase a a slight amount.

I think we are like a fireplace. If we put too much logs, most and wet, it will cool down and shoke the fire and only smoke will come out of our chimney. Light amount of food, right amount of much bellows breathing, will make a small fire bigger. However when fire is big we can even throw in big cool logs and it will be consumed and burned without much smoke.

I have a few practice extracted from experiences to be efficient - this is in context of working with your Jing-energy. 1. Transmutation of sexual energy. Together with breath. Intending energy up the govenor channel on inbreath and slowly releasing it down the functional channel on outbreath. Do it several rounds. 2. Silent meditation. Just observing your inner space. Can also be light attention in brain at the same time still keeping open space / observing. The attention should be like listening to it, not too tight focused and deliberate. Also keep though on the roof of palate. meditation 45 min - one hour between 1-5 in night is the best for me since everything is still and everybody sleeps. 3. Long, fast walks, gazing forward. Do it with awareness. It also helps condensing chi in the marrow and tendons making you stronger. (also slow running in same way). Confirmatory sign: If after some time you feel a "nectar" flowing down the forehead, trough the eyes, feeling like it purifies them, down the thounge, collecting in lower dan tien, you are succeeding in alchemical transmutation.

Cayenne sounds interesting, never tried, I changed it for chai-tea I make myself. You put in some crushed cinnamon, fresh ginger, aniseed, cardamum-seeds and just put it in coffee-filter and brew it. I really recommend. Don't know if it is particular good or bad but it tastes good and gives a nice feeling. I and a chinese friend often had Hotpot together - the Sichuan style - a lot of Chinese pepper, fat, and other things. I love the way you can eat a lot of it without being stuffed. Generally the Chinese food has less of sugar, milk-products and refined carbons. She taught me a lot about food and medicine.