Uroboros

For newer practitioners, I think it is quite important to specify WHERE the LDT is / point of focus. We all could be talking about totally different points of reference. Some books say the anchor point is QiHai acupuncture point, some say it is in the center of the belly. Some say the entire lower belly. In my own experience, I started at the external (the lower belly/ QiHai) and eventually the deeper layers opened and showed themselves as they pleased. Some excellent advice my old Teacher gave me was to make the LDT a part of your every day existence, include it in every activity you do. Move from it. Anywho, would anyone else like to chime in on their way?

Hey Qicat, I see where you are trying to get to. There are a few problems to that ending. First is that, as you observed, man introduces a "force" into nature on a subtle level which adjusts flow to manifest an altered expression (drought-rain). How much force was need to alter drought- rain? What happens when that change alters the other various multitude of "forces" at play? Rain adjusts wind, wind adjusts temperature, adjusts earth/ ecology, etc. Well, lets say this cascade of changes takes affect, what happens when it reaches a breaking point? Flood. Mudslide. Then a sudden backlash leading into a larger wild fire. Why? Because the original alteration required a sizable force and that force will create more forces of equal power at different vectors. Now, you want to understand how to be more precise. Less nuke more precision warhead. Reasonable. Can you grasp all the vectors/ forces at play and understand how to adjust gently, with very little interference? Are you able to read the paths of the land and the heavens, thereby bringing harmony without interference? I sure as hell cant! haha. What I am trying to get to, is that the answer you seek is not easy nor simple. Study Feng Shui and you may learn to read and see the forces/ vectors. Maybe QiGong/ Meditation will do it. I cannot say. Just posing more questions and points for thought.

As I am now, I think that it would be wiser to see why the drought existed to begin with. Strike the root and the tree will fall, no? Much good can come from a drought. Apologies, I do not know much about rain calling, I have only done so a few times. I learned many years ago to be careful with such forcing of nature. She has her reasons, best to nudge where nudging is accepted, not force her hand.

It looks like Yin style Bagua uses 8 healing sounds, not 6. Anyone know of any other sources that utilize a similar sequence? http://www.qigongfu.com/8HS_Article_web.pdf

Such a thing requires allot of work and is very....simple. The lack of flash turns many off from the potential work. Sad....

Indeed, this is why moving cultivation is so helpful. Along with dredging the channels. My personal opinion, though flawed it is, is that the question itself of "gathering" Qi is incorrect. We already have it, get it, make it, etc. The issue is more about function and flow. Does your energetic, physical, emotional, mental structure function in harmonious fashion? Does the Qi within your system flow smoothly when it should? Secondly, I think it is more...about cultivation itself. We don't gather a bunch of Qi into a TanTien, we transform and harmonize the function of the TanTien so it can by itself hold more Qi automatically/ function in a more efficient manner. Some ramblings to throw into the mix.

Funny thing, the book Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by David Coulter has a great chapter on breathing that also states we should work to cultivate a continuous breath, not utilizing holds for a long while. Very useful book, btw.

In the vein of this, I remember reading about the old greek difference between boldness and courage. The bold are reckless, stupid, fearless. They act without caution and thought. The bold are not to be admired. The courageous feel fear and are not stupid enough to think they are invincible. They are ones who cultivate virtue, right action in the right way at the right time. Courage is thoughtful, it is intent-full. There is even caution inherent in it as one does no want to give way to boldness and stupidity.

Beautiful. Thank you

I was thinking about the foundations of Taoist cultivations and the 3 TanTiens. The Lower TanTien governs Jing. The Middle governs Qi and the upper Shen. The middle consists of Lungs and Heart. Why do these two organs, from a cultivation and/or clinical perspective govern Qi? Some say the Lungs govern Qi because of breathing. Why is it the Lungs AND Heart together? Some food for contemplation.

I have been utilizing the I Ching for divinations and have had wonderful results. Its so much more then just a fortune teller, though. I am working to understand the lines themselves and the process of change/ transformation of yin and yang The biggest difficulty I have is when I am attempting to grasp the process or mechanism as to how the lines of yin and yang transform and become the hexagrams. In hexagram 1- Qian, its all Yang. Then Kun is all Yin. From here on out is where I get confused. From 2 to 3, somehow a yin line at the first transforms to yang and a yin line at the 5 transforms to yang. Why does it transform that way? What is the theory/ mechanism? This bugs me. If anyone can help me grasp this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

While I was sick recently I just laid in bed and breathed into the LDT. Eventually the subtle breathe reaches and starts to connect, stabilize and fill. It was....quite refreshing.

Firstly, I have a small level of experience in regards to XingYiQuan. Take what I say and compare it with others more experienced, there happen to be a few here. As far as I understand it, the mechanics are very different to boxing. XingYi is more...like a piston. A steam engine. It is whole body, unified and expressing a certain force/ vector. You also use special walking to gain grown and express forces while utilizing gravity. Boxing does unify but not in the same way. Example- a strike in boxing is standing still and utilizes a chain from feet to hip to shoulder to hand. In XingYi your whole body would move as one, utilizing special walking to gain a more advantageous ground along with emitting force/vector. Bobbing and weaving are not something I see in XingYi. It is better to move like a steam engine/ piston and gain ground + destabilize. Bobbing and weaving also wastes too much energy. Why spend the energy doing that when you need to end the fight with as little effort as possible? Next enemy could be near. I think many styles of MA are influenced by boxing now. If it has aspects that work, it will be utilized. Is the XingYi you will be learning legitimate? Is it really going to cultivate your skill and body-mind in the right way? I dont know. Anywho, I hope that helps.

I rarely comment anymore simply because it is rarely productive. In this case, I feel the need to make an observation without giving any further communication on the topic. In our spiritual and cultivation minded world, it is very common for discussions to become arguments. Defending views, proving others wrong, stabilizing superiority, etc. This thread originally peaked my interest as it started off talking about a topic I find worthy of deeper contemplation. Shortly after its creation it became consumed by a feud of opinion and lineage. Now seven pages later, it is just filled with pointless insults on character and knowledge. This is petty. It is pointless. If I was a newcomer interested in these arts, I would be led astray by posts and threads such as these. Reading this, I feel ashamed for the cultivation world. That this is the current state, of one of the only forums on the internet where people actively involved gather, is depressing. No wonder these arts are being lost. We are throwing them away. Spending our days fighting over who is right, instead of having actual discussions and deepening our knowledge. I use to enjoy reading this forum because there were intelligent conversations, sharing of knowledge and wisdom. Now.......This and masturbation.

I have been thinking about how to utilize sleep for cultivation. I know of two methods to help make sleep easier/ improve the quality but they don't always work. I would like for this thread to be a place for people to share different methods and share their experiences. The only two methods I have been taught are as follows- Lie on right side, inhale into yintang through nose whilst seeing blue at yintang. Exhale through mouth with HA sound feeling heat leaving mouth. Do this for 9 repetitions in bed before sleep. The second is simply laying in corpse pose in bed, inhaling from pelvic floor up to chest through nose then exhaling through mouth making the Xi sound whilst having the motion move down from chest to pelvis. I have experimented with doing Anapanasati in bed while going to sleep and so far, it does not decrease length nor increase quality. It has simply deepened the amount of emptiness(no dream state) I have during sleep. I will continue to experiment. I look forward to hearing what you all do! edit- Methods that do not focus on lucid dreaming. They seem harder to find.

Thank you! I will give it a listen and absorb.

My experience concurs with this post. In doing a solid QiGong form, the processes initiated when they were ready. I got sidetracked and have yet to open the first of the three gates completel, though. I think its more about initiating and resting in that initiation then manually driving the process.... The processes are seeds within us. The right conditions activate the growth of the seed into the oak.

Thank you for hearing what I am looking for! I am a fan of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. If he does write this other book, I will read that, too!

I have read the book and it is quite good. It is not the kind of method I am interested in, though. Thank you

One of the points I have heard often is that the focus shouldn't be too intense. Doing so could cause stagnation of Qi/ Blood. I have had the best results with utilizing a more open awareness, 40-60%, with a light knowing of purpose. I rarely visualize as I have no idea if what I am "seeing" is real development. I let my self show me what is there and run with that. I let it naturally occur.

Thank you for this. I will try it out. Have you practiced this often? If so, did you notice any changes in your sleep/waking states?

I agree with this. I had some experiences of the door opening kind as a youngin and while I have healed much of the damage, there are lasting changes. Often the transformation that comes from such doors opening is not valued in our every day culture. That can make it difficult to utilize it for our own benefit and the benefit of others.

Thank you for sharing this teaching. I am going to experiment with it and see if it works.

What does Yin Magnetic Gong entail, SOTG?

That is why I am curious about methods other then lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming seems to focus more on visualizations and imaginings, more mental/ psychic. Where does it reflect the same process as the other waking cultivation methods? Do the ancients talk of it? Tibetan Buddhism does have some LD practices that you utilize to prepare for death. I would think it would be similar to many methods where you, in a waking state, create the right fertile conditions to start the process and then the process does its thing. We already initiate a process of revitalization and transformation by sleeping. Consciously utilizing that, not for death but for life, might be a key. Thanks for the links, Daeluin. I will look into them.