damien

Hi, I am calling myself damien here, obviously this is just a nickname, but that's how it is on Forums. I have been a practicing Buddhist for many years, but lately I began learning about and practicing the Taoist practice of circulating sexual energy, from the books and videos of Master Mantak Chia. This practice has changed my life, bringing healing physically, emotionally and I believe spiritually as well. Also, reading a few tranlations of the Tao Te Ching, even while still 'officially' a Buddhist, inspired me, and left such an impression that it has fascinated me ever since, although as for properly compreheding it, well I think I have a REALLY long way to go in that area. I am here to learn, connect with other travellers, and hopefully make a friend or two. I honestly am quite new to Taoism, and sometimes I wonder if as a 'Westerner' I will even be able to properly comprehend it. But, as with Buddhism, I suspect that Truth can speak through all cultures and languages, and that even those of us born outside of Taoism's ancestral home should be able to drink from it's timeless waters. At least I hope so! Anyway, I love music (play the piano), Nature, just lying back and looking at the stars at night, well lots of simple things, and of course the Taoist sexual alchemy, although I still have much to learn about it, yes very much still a beginner! sincerely damien

Any God who could allow any being to suffer *forever*, not even forgiving them after a billion years, after they had repented, learned their lesson etc, well that kind of God is not worthy of our worship. It's on that basis that I don't worry about a few lines written in the New Testament that refer to this. There are about a thousand different religions on Earth anyway, who is to say which is correct? Why are you so worried about blaspheming the HS, and not worried about not having made offerings to Zeus, for example? Or Thor? And damn, I worked on the Sabbath recently...should I be stoned? And by the way, did you know that if you don't pray three times a day to Allah, you're stuffed as well? Seriously, please cease your worry about this. You've got a precious human life to live. Go out into the sun, and listen to the birds.

Hi all, I'm still very new to Taoism in general, but have been experimenting with / attempting to learn the 'Microcosmic Orbit' meditation, getting more sensitive to, and circulating, the chi up the back channel, and down the front channel. Anyway, this morning I had already raised the energy up to the extent I felt able, had swirled it around in my head, and was letting myself relax, and using visualization to help get in touch with the sensation (and thus the energy), so as to help let the energy flow back down again (via the front), first into the third eye, then down the connecting tongue and on to the thymus, then down to the heart, then down to the solar plexus, then down to the navel, into which I swirled around and visualized / felt the energy getting 'stored'. And it occurred to me that, as the energy rises it is Yang, fire; but when it descends again, it is Yin, water; and that somehow, the body / energy system turns water into fire (from the perineum point on) and fire into water (from the third eye point on). I've got a long way to go with learning this, but as I was doing the visualization to help let the energy flow back down, I used the idea of a waterfall, with the energy flowing down in that way...and I recalled that, when it had been rising up the spine (just before), it ascended and had felt more 'bright', energetic. And now as it falls, it is softer, more nurturing, descending gently like water...and I thought, "it's as though water is turned into fire, and then fire back into water". Just a thought for the day

Hi everyone My spiritual journey has had a lot of twists and turns, but only two Paths have really resonated with me properly (physically, emotionally, deeply), and they are Buddhism, and (to the humble extent to which I understand it, which is not very much as yet) Taoism. So, here I am. My interest in Taoism began when I found myself in a quandary. I was trying to practice Buddhist meditation, but to do this required that I subdue any thoughts or actions related to sexual desire. So I would alternate between periods of quite good meditation practice, trying to be more or less celibate, then flipping over to periods of over indulgence in sex, with meditation practice suffering as a result (due to the loss of vital energy). Then one day, someone gave me a book by Master Mantak Chia, and thus began a journey that continues to this day, as I gradually discover (or is it, REdiscover?) how to feel the sexual energy in the body with more sensitivity, and how to draw it up INTO the body, rather than expelling it out (along with the precious seed). So I have discovered that it doesn't have to be 'either or' ('Either you do meditation, OR you do sex'). No, rather: Sex itself can become meditation. And a damn enjoyable one it is, too. It's the one meditation practice I never have to force myself to sit down to. Of course there is much more to Taoism than the inner sexual practices, and I am open to this as well. The Tao Te Ching is amazing. Deep like a lake, profound, and seems to have more than one layer of meaning (although as I said, I admit my novice status when it comes to the Tao, so there is much I have to learn here). So I'm a kind of Buddhist-Taoist hybrid. I hope I'm not the only one, but in any case, I look forward to hanging out here, reading others' posts, and sharing a few of my own. Zed