katsura

You can make permanent changes in your body/mind with training (qigong and meditation.) It takes time and dedication, but it'll happen. Edit: As far practice and 'letting go' goes, there's the old parable about the sculptor who said his only skill was "clearing away the extra bits."

This style of meditation is known in most forms of Zen Buddhism as "observing the phrase" and doesn't entail intellectual examination, but the spontaneous contemplation that arises when the mind is emptied and quietly directed toward the koan.

It's impossible for me to know what phase you are in your development, but the non-dual awareness many of us are pointing towards typically only comes after a period of deep involvement with some formal method of practice (a technique, in other words.) There is a pivotal moment when all contrivance is abandoned, but only after many days of sincere effort. The techniques I mentioned aren't meant to obscure your experience of things, but to purify them. Now, from non-dual perspective, there is nothing to purify because there is no thought of purity or impurity, but the people capable of realizing this intuitively, from a conventional perspective, are quite pure! It's somewhat paradoxical, but if you're asking for motivation to practice then that would be it. Edit: typos, formatting

This appears to be a koan so I would recommend you meditate on it.

Please look into the secret smile exercise, or anything centered on cultivating bliss and jhana. I also recommend intoning the six healing sounds. Most of this should be available online, but let me know if you want more guidance. There is the Tibetan Chod exercise as well, which is explicated in Tsultrim Allione's Cutting Through Fear. I have serious issues with paranoia and I can state with confidence that when coming out of a bliss state, these feelings are muted in a powerful way.

I don't think you should necessarily feel pressured to conform to anyone else's standard of spiritual excellence, but the fortune of being exposed to effective qigong and meditation instructions is not a small thing, and will only enhance whatever you feel you already have. That said, if it's not time for you to dedicate yourself to practice then it won't do to force yourself either.

D.H. Lawrence said a bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever feeling sorry for itself.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion theologically distinct from Islam and Hinduism, but shares cultural elements with both.

Imagine a world without culture or abstract thought--that's why the humanities are important.

Part of the reason why the lower dan tien is emphasized so much is because when you open kundalini in the higher centers first, it's not as easy to awaken it in the lower centers. The root chakra is our connection to the earth and what keeps us grounded.

Cycling the orbits seems to be what keeps me in check.

Chronic masturbators may feel a temporary high when they refrain from ejaculating for a few days, and this suddenly becomes an evangel for them, totally unmoored from all the actual internal alchemy practices that make celibacy relevant to spirituality. Yes, you're delusional. You're not going to hew to monastic vows for ten years in a non-monastic context, least of all in a committed relationship. You're a 21 year old child; you don't even know who the hell you are yet.

I take an analytical view of spiritual phenomena and I prize repeatability, but I don't feel any inclination to reconcile my experiences with a materialist paradigm. Qi is also a lot easier to type than "bio electricity."

A lot of it has to do with having a traumatic upbringing. Worldviews that offer a promise of inner piece are attractive to those who desire emotional stability, and those who've experienced terrible circumstances have a more pressing need to believe in a benevolent universe; a feeling of alienation may also cause one to seek out the least judgmental belief systems. The new age accordingly places a strong emphasis on the therapeutic, and proffers a fairly vast array of techniques to mitigate onslaughts of negativity.

Yes, of course you can reverse the MCO. All you're doing is sending qi up the conception vessel and down the governing vessel. It's a very natural, comfortable thing to do, and actually safer than the conventional fire orbit. Edit: typos