BananaMonkey

Hey folks! I figured there have to be many people with an interesting taste in music here and since I'm always looking for new sounds, I'm starting this thread. My own tastes are very diverse, my first passion was rock and metal (thrash, death and progressive). Then I started listening to jazz (mostly modern), jazz fusion, electronic music (especially DnB and progressve psytrance), classical and folk/world music. So I'm pretty much open to any suggestions of what you guys enjoy. Since I have a lot more fast-paced and intense music than slower stuff in my collection, I'm mostly looking for relaxing sounds, though. And I listen to a lot of instrumental music because I find it stimulates my mind differently from the verbal input that's everywhere nowadays. Looking forward to your input!

Hey folks, I enjoy dancing to Drum'n'Bass which obviously is very fast-paced and intense. At a party a few weeks ago I had a feeling of energy concentrating in my upper dantian/centre of my head while I was dancing ecstatically. This was accompanied by an intense feeling of joy. I was completely sober at the time. My question is, what sort of energy do you guys think this would be within the Daoist system? Is it Qi or maybe Qi being refined into Shen energy? Looking forward to your input!

This made my day!

Hey fellow disciples of sitting and staring at the floor Now, this semi-serious line already brings me to the point of this thread: Do you all practice with you eyes half-lidded or does anybody close them completely during zazen? My teacher and pretty much everything I've read about it advocates keeping the eyes open. While I understand that the practice is designed this way for a reason, I'd like to hear if anybody here did zazen with eyes closed long-term and what their experiences are with it. Peace!

I'm currently writings my BA thesis on a 13th century Zhuangzi commentary written by someone who seems strongly influenced by Buddhism to me. Since I also practice Zen and study Buddhism in general, some parallels between Buddhist and Taoist philosophy caught my eye recently. I also heard a Zen master say something like "keeping one's mind focused on one's body helps with enlightenment as opposed to letting one's thoughts wander about elsewhere".

Although I'm a relative newcomer here, your posts made me laugh more than once. Plus your straightforwardness really adds to this place

The Catholic church contributes this to the nofap discussion:

I'd like to send my best wishes as well. Never give up on yourself! Is going to some kind of a retreat where you don't have access to the substances an option? Can't speak from experience, but I hear cold turkey works best for most people. It surely is hard, but it's effective, too. Do you have something else to do instead of giving in to the urge? As Socrates said: "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." Peace!

Welcome! This is a great place, you'll enjoy your stay

Gotta love the link that says: Meet People for Semen Swallowing Semen Therapy Contacts As Flolfolil said, LOL

The spam flood seems to be over for now, welcome on board! Lots to learn in here and many helpful bums

Hey folks, you're probably familiar with the idea of the things most irritating to someone being reflections of their own (unconscious) view of themselves. I'd like you to share some insights you had about yourself pertaining to this concept. I myself for example used to have a deprecating image of people who obviously are wealthy, i.e. drive an expensive car, live in a big house and so on. After a while I realised that I had beliefs about money and wealth as being incompatible with goodness, spirituality etc.. Then, after reading something about and intellectually understanding the aforementioned concept, I started consciously challenging my view of this and met some really nice, wealthy people. For example, I used to work as a bike messenger and delivered urgent letters and packages to sometimes pretty rich people while I myself was wearing shabby clothes, being sweaty and often had mud on my face. When some of them gave me generous tips and made a kind impression, my view changed considerably. In addition to this, I read about many wealthy people doing altruistic things and spiritual leaders often being quite well-off. Now, I'm not talking about the self-indulgent Guru types here, but of those who for example wrote books and earned a lot which they channelled into their charitable work. Now I no longer think of money as something inherently evil or egoistic but a neutral kind of tool that can be used for good as well as for immoral purposes. Looking forward to your input

One of the funniest guided meditations ever: Has anybody been to workshops like this in person? Sure looks fun

So you both think that ultimately, it doesn't really matter. That's interesting because when I started practising consistently a few months ago, at first I closed my eyes completely because it felt easier. Then, maybe two weeks ago, I started keeping them half-open and I felt like I had to start almost from zero again. I guess I'll just return to eyes closed, then. Another question: I also started practising Qi Gong breathing exercises a few weeks ago. So as first thing in the morning, I do some breathing exercises. Because it's great to get me going and because traditionally, deep breathing is said to be more beneficial energetically when done before noon. I'm in the process of learning the Microcosmic Orbit and will do this after the breathing. So far I always did Zazen in the evening, when things are quieter and I feel like calming my mind is in order. Occasionally, if time permits and I feel like it, I'll also do additional Zazen during the day. So when do you think is the best time to sit?

Very interesting discussion. I think Ken Wilber makes a valuable contribution in this 7 min video explaining fundamental differences between practices designed by men and the things some highly advanced women do:

The other day I found this ridiculously epic photo taken in the mountains of Taiwan, it's available in 4000x2666 resolution on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/humantheme/7796149202/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Welcome! This is a great place to learn and have fun

Welcome! I'm relatively new as well and can tell you that this is a friendly and helpful place

This sounds a lot worse than not allowing oneself to blow one's load Anyway, when I read "The Tao of Sexology" last year the importance of keeping the juices inside immediately clicked for me. I don't really find orgasms less intense without ejaculation, actually...

German humour: tool box in German is Werkzeugkoffer, with Werkzeug meaning tools. Wurst means sausage. Bon appétit!

Welcome to the forum! Enjoy the ride, it's sure to improve your life

I starting writing this as a reply to 4bsolute's thread on Correct Taoist Ways of Drinking in the healing circle forum and since the original posts were rather long, I thought I'd just add what else I know from reading and own experience. There's quite a bit of helpful info in it, so here we go: Contents: 1. What to drink 2. How to drink 3. When to drink 4. Overwiew: Digestion time for different food types 1. What to drink First off, pretty much all the liquids I drink (when not travelling) are based on distilled water. I read a few books on the subject and heard loads of testimony from people who benefited greatly from the practice. In a nutshell, the main advantage over tap or bottled water is that it contains no anorganic minerals, which the body cannot use and therefore has to use energy to eliminate. If the load of inorganic minerals is too high, calcified deposits will form on the joints and nerves, causing various kinds of trouble. Organic minerals on the other hand have been taken up from the soil and converted into biologically usable material by microorganisms in cooperation with plants. This is done by changing their charge and building them into organic molecules. Another important point about distilled water is that the distillation virtually filters all known impurities such as herbicide residue, chemicals and pharmaceuticals as well as hormones that are found in regular tap water. Once all this stuff is removed, the water has a strong negative charge and pulls out all the positively charged molecules of unwanted material out of the body. This can lead to dramatic detox symptons in the first days and weeks of drinking distilled water, especially if large quantities are consumed. I use a Megahome (Taiwanese brand) distiller that distills 4 litres in about 4 hours if it's filled with hot tap water. If you put in cold water, it obviously needs more time to bring it to a boil. I usually fill the machine once at night and twice a day, as I'm not the only person in the household. I myself usually drink at least 5 litres of the water as I've always been a thirsty person. I use the water for plain drinking at room temperature, tea, smoothies, soaking dried fruit etc. When consumed by itself, the water is really smooth and has no taste, as opposed to tap water. Tea and coffee are said to be far more aromatic. I recommed the very concise book "The Choice Is Clear" by Dr. Allen E. Banik and the many videos featuring Andrew Norton Webber on youtube for further info. The maybe even better choice would be fresh spring water, as it's usually low in anorganic minerals and it is structured energetically. Spring water is just somewhat hard to get in large quantities if you live in a big city. Since I understand that this whole energetic structure business may sound too far-out for some, I'll just hint at structuring water: It can also be done using crystals, for example when using distilled water, there's loads of info on this online. Check out Masaru Emoto's work for a good introduction to the incredible science behind the structures of water. 2. How to drink Those familiar with Chinese culture will know that the Chinese often drink warm water, although the influence of Western habits leads to a strongly increasing popularity of ice-cold softdrinks etc. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), cold drinks affect digestion and the associated organds negatively, which leads to various unbalaces. When consumed with food, according to the TCM view, cold water especially strains the spleen. In Western science, we know that the enzymes involved in digestion need a certain temperature to work, which would obviously be affected by cold beverages. Another often overlooked part of drinking is the speed at which you down your liquids. Gandhi said: “Chew your drink and drink your food”, advising people to drink slowly and masticate food thoroughly. Among the advantages of drinking slowly over guzzling water down is not stretching your stomach suddenly. In its empty state, the stomach contracts to the size of a fist. In an extremely trained human, it can accommodate up to four litres of food or water, but a fast expansion can lead to bloating and overstretching the membranes. Another reason to drink even room-temperature water slowly is that it's still about 20 degrees celsius cooler than the inside of your stomach and can be pre-warmed in your mouth before it hits your stomach, making its absorption easier. 3. When to drink In addition to being picky about what I drink, my timing also tends to be fussy. When I wake up, I drink at least a litre of distilled water. Then I wait at least half an hour before I eat, if I'm not yet hungry longer. That would usually be a load of fruit, varieties depending on the season. I give fruit half an hour to digest, If it's a smoothie more like an hour, as it's more or less diluted. The next time I drink a larger amount is before lunch, again about a litre at least 20-30 mins before I eat. For lunch I mostly eat cooked carbs like brown rice, millet, potatoes or legumes like chichpeas or beans, always with a lot of veggies. This needs two hours to digest. During the afternoon, after digesting lunch for at least two hours and drinking another litre or so I may get hungry again. In that case I usually eat some fruit with no drinking for 30 mins. Before Dinner I also drink a litre. My dinner usually is a massive salad with fat like avocado, various good cold-pressed non-filtered oils or a sauce based on soaked nuts or seeds blended with water or tomatoes or sour, juicy fruit like oranges. The vitamin C of sour fruit is said to aid in the digestion of protein. The advantage of eating fat at night is that it provides the body with a steady stream on energy for the whole night, whereas carbs run out sooner. In that case, the body would have to switch into gluconeogenesis, burning glucogenic aminoacids or other material. In addition, the insulin that's released during and after ingestion of carbs interferes with melatonin and can affect your sleep. After dinner, which I usually finish between 7 pm and 7:30, I don't really drink for at least four hours because fats and protein need the longest time to digest. But I will always have a glass jar with water handy at night, so that I sometimes drink another litre at night. And then the whole thing starts again 4. Overwiew: Digestion time for different food types First off, I you have never about trophology or food-combining, be sure to read up on this as it's crucial for good digestion and efficient use of nutrients. With that in mind, here's some general info on the time it takes various foods to be broken down in the stomach and pass into the large intestine. Once they're out of your stomach, you won't dilute the digestive enzymes by drinking. These figures may not be extremly accurate, but they're provided as a sort of rough guideline. Fruit: 30 mins Vegetables: 1-2 hours Grains: 1-2 hours Beans: 1-2 hours Meat and Fish: At least 3-4 hours Olives and avocados: 2 hours Oil: 3-4 hours Keep in mind that adding oil slows down the digestion of other foods as it coats them and has to be broken down first. That's why I usually eat salads with oil only as the last meal of the day. This ended up being a bit long-winded, hope people can make some use of the info...

I lol'd

You know, some people say cucumbers are tastier when they're pickled.

I learned pinyin first and still think it's more systematic and intuitive for beginners. Although it also has its irregularities such as the i in zhi and in ji.