Thrice Daily

I first got into Mantak Chia in 2006 or so when I was 24. Iron Shirt, The Inner Smile, 6 sounds and micro cosmic orbit. Plus the sexual practices. The 6 sounds was incredibly powerful and knocked me off balance in a way while also helping me deal with a lot of past issues but it was tough going. The sexual practices, very easy to get carried away and difficult to control myself and just work with cooler energies rather than chase orgasm. I did go to a workshop and found it deeply beneficial to spend some time with Chris North and Anamarta. This meeting was humbling and grounding for me. That being said, it's understandable how many people have messed themselves up with these practices. There is so much to take stock off and trying to learn from books can become quite forceful and not gentle with intent. Although of course Mantak stresses the importance of being gentle, it's taken me till my 40's before I really can work with naturalness well enough to benefit from his practices and use them well. In my 20's I could spend hours in certain practices. So much time spent and deep work done sure but very unsettling and not really consistent practice could build. It was too powerful and affecting to be consistent, does that make sense? now I practice basic iron shirt, micro cosmic orbit , inner smile and six sounds but wu wei leads the practice and an hour a day tends to do, it's not super deep but it's super consistent and there are incremental gains in aspects of the practice each day. I also now follow the advice of weightlifting and do a heavy full body workout 3 times per week. I think this is very beneficial while following Mantak, as he suggests in Iron Shirt 1 I think.. It's a shame he got a bad name, I don't see him like a Taoist Sage / spiritual guide, I don't see him in visions or altered states. But his books are pretty common sensical and surly point to sound Taoist logic. It's a shame to read them as being childish. Chi Self Massage for example is a wonderful ( perhaps simple book ). But when committed to memory it serves as a faithful companion in your health life whether you use the chi element or not. Full respect to him for that one from me. If you have naturalness and good connection with intuition or wu wei . Not too much ego or force. If you can listen to your inner sense and have good consistency in the rest of your life, enough to practice I think this can be a good path. The question is can you face yourself and keep going in spite of what you see. Me in my 20's that was hard work. I earned my salt though and after spending time in Mahayana Buddhism and Vippasana I can practice Mantak Chia with respectful ease, life is Good and better with practices. Good luck whatever you choose and wherever you may be... Stick with the basics and always be prepared to return to the uncarved block.

I'd like to pose a question about solo practice, Feel this is good thread to add to. While cultivating sexual energy, you find you ejaculate. What practices (if any) do you do in the next day or two afterwards? Do you continue as normal? Do you modify your regular practice? Do you stop all together? Do you have seperate practice entirely? I'm sure many people would be interested to hear Forum Members opinions/advice on this subject. Thanks, Thrice Daily

Hi There People, Having been reading from this site now for around 5 years. I'm 50 days into my first 100 days retention so this is kind of a half way mark celebration post. Feeling stronger, although the last few days my daily physical practices have fallen somewhat. I've been practicing Qi Gong for around 7 years now, some Mantak Chia, Bruce Franzis and various Brocades from around the way. I do tendon changing practices and also Shibashi 18 movements at night. A meditation session and daily stretching of some description is also a very welcome edition. I recently watched some great movies that were reccommended in a post on here, Taoist Movies I find it good to stimulate the mind with this and that and a little reading. Although as time goes by, less intensity and wants in practice seem to give way to more consistant results. Recently I've been experimenting with diet, meditation and exercise, generally adhering to 3 solid sessions per day. Many times an interesting talking point will come up, look forward to sgaring and reading more soon. Bye for now, Tao Brothers & Sisters, Thrice Daily "Nothing beats Soup before bed in the Nothern Hemisphere. Except maybe soup with Fresh Chilli, Garlic and Ginger."