Oneironaut

It's still a good ability to acquire. Don't understand why most on this forum are so vehemently against it.

All of the above

Is there any qigong or meditations for developing spontaneous mindfulness and hyper sensory awareness? I've bumped into a book by Charlotte Selver called Reclaiming Vitality & Presence but I think there are probably better ways to approach this. I ask because when mindfulness is reached to an almost enlightened level then lucid dreaming/astral projections become as natural as breathing.

This is motivation for me. I can't even last 3 days. Thanks guys.

Then what else can I possibly be asking for?

I have a few questions regarding taoist sex practices. Are kegels and the deer exercise the same thing? Also, for those who are experienced in circulating sex energy throughout the MCO, where did you learn how to do it?

Okay, I've got the audio CD's DVD's and ebooks from healingtaousa and it's a whole lot of material to cover. I"m thinking of starting out with the inner smile audio and reading the ebook while incorporating the 6 healing sounds sometime at night after getting home from work. So I'm thinking of having both a morning and night time/evening practice. I realize that Michael does something unique in the sense that he combines animal movements with the six healing sounds. My question is can the six healing sounds be done seated and without the 5 animals? I plan on doing the practice exactly as Michael teaches it as soon as I get some grounding here and can view/read all the material in the months to come. Secondly, I remember getting involved with a method called keysound by Jack Johnston. The sound seems similar to the heart sound and I remember Jack telling me that his keysound needed to be done within it's effective range otherwise it would be useless. Is it the same with the six healing sounds in that they must be done within a certain effective range in order for them to be effective? Thanks.

Thanks Steve I sincerely appreciate your reply. I'm thinking of signing up for an online course. You can do that straight off Rinponche's site I believe. I'll go and check that out. If you need any info based on the Taoist methods let me know and I'll be glad to help you out.

Steve, I have several more questions for you. Would you recommend these two books for someone interested in learning the Tibetan methods? Here & here Also, what do the day practices in the Tibetan methods consist of? In the western methods there is the constant critical state testing in which you ask yourself if you're dreaming or awake whenever a "dream sign" pops up in your waking life. This is mainly to train the critical thinking faculties in your mind. Then there is also the prospective memory exercises to train your mind to remember for a planned future event. In this case it is literally to train your mind to remember when you're actually dreaming. In the Taoist methods Michael Winn says that building your energy body through your daily qigong practice naturally makes the lucid dreaming practices at night nearly effortless compared to anything else. The western and Taoist methods do resemble one another when it comes to things such as setting your intentions, reflecting on your dreams & doing a dream gesture or reality check but do vary significantly when it comes to daytime practices. Lastly, how do the Tibetans stabilize the dream state? I've had tons of lucid dreams lasting under 30 seconds. It's rather frustrating. In the western methods taught by LaBerge he recommends spinning to prolong the dream. That never worked for me. I've found that staring at the ground beneath my feet and then looking away is a hit or miss method. I can sometimes dream lucidly for around 5-15 minutes with that method. My conclusion is that the western methods consist of too much pointless effort and can only work so well. Even seasoned lucid dreamers have issues and tend to look towards chemicals and even then there is no guarantee of success. In the western methods there is no emphasis in meditation, energy work, visualization or building mindful awareness. You have the so called skeptics behaving as if they know more about dreams and dreaming practices than the Tibetans themselves. Pathetic.

I feel that the methods introduced by Stephen LaBerge lack any serious thought to building a solid foundation. His teachings are distilled from Tibetan techniques and they do work but only to an extent. Not to mention that his approach is rather dry and an attempt to literally strip out all spiritual aspects of dream yoga.

I made up my mind about kunlun after much diligent research. It can go straight to hell and that Max guy can go along with it. I'll probably go with yigong instead. The teacher of that system is legit. I just want to know more about what it's like

Steve, what is the practice of three doors as outlined in step 2? The Tibetan methods seem awfully similar to those in Stephen LaBerge's book. It's no surprise as the Buddhist methods are what gave rise to the methods we have here in the west. I have taken the methods given by LaBerge and have modified them in order to make them simpler. I will report back on their effectiveness in the months to come. Efficacy and practicality are what I look to achieve. As of right now I'm also studying Taoist Dream Practices (the CD audio set by Michael Winn) and hopefully I will be able to take what works from there. I'm hoping it all works as Michael claims that while the Tibetan methods are supremely powerful, the Taoist methods give equal or better results and are more effortless. Some of the Taoist methods are also similar to the Buddhist methods as well like the different sleep positions (I find the Buddha posture and it's reverse equivalent to be rather uncomfortable so I prefer laying back and facing the ceiling). I will experiment with those methods and also plan on taking a Taoist dream practice course with Juan Li. Eventually I'll learn from the Tibetans as well. This is a topic that interests me a great deal as Lucid Dreams are without a doubt the most pleasurable and exhilarating experiences I have ever had.

I'm looking into the keysound system by Jack Johnston. Does anyone here have any experiences with it?

Once they are opened are they opened permanently? Or can they close back up?

So in order to keep the orbit open are you supposed to do MCO meditations every single day? Or would using it often be sufficient?

Out of curiosity, can the inner smile meditation and 6 healing sounds be combined together to form a single and effective meditation session? Also, to anyone who practices the six healing sounds and inner smile: How long do your sessions last?

Thanks for the help everyone. I have one more question to ask on this topic. The inner smile requires that you keep your tongue on the palate. Is it okay to release the tongue in order to do the healing sound or would releasing the tongue "mess up" the energy flow and the make the meditation useless?

As some of you may know by now I've looked into seiki jutsu and ditched the entire idea because I think Bradford Keeney (the supposed gatekeeper to that lineage) is a fraud. I'm rather captivated by the idea of spontaneous, effortless and formless versions of qigong and upon looking for something other than seiki jutsu I stumbled upon Taoist Light Qigong. So my questions are: 1) Does anyone here have any direct experience with Taoist Light Qigong? 2) Can Formless qigong be used safely and effectively under neidan practices as opposed to their more "choreographed" counterparts? 3) It seems like many here are visciouly opposed to the healing tao system. Is anyone here familiar with other neidan lineages outside of the healing tao system that are far superior? The more simple, safe, effortless and more effective the better.

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Yes Michael mixes his healing sounds with animal frolic movements. I'm personally not a very big fan of it but I'm sure there are folks out there who benefit from it. Some people like to mix in their healing sounds with baduanjin.

You came off as snide and full of sarcasm (like a few other posters on here but fortunately most people here are actually pretty chill, laid back and very knowledgable) and I called you out for it. Assuming that wasn't your intention then I guess I'll have to be the one to come out and apologize to you. As far as the name goes I chose it because I been a practicing lucid dreamer for the past few years and it's opened me up to so many different things so it's a more fitting name. Am I proficient at it? Somewhat, when I put in the effort. I do plan on getting to the point where I can achieve "mastery" of my dream worlds by inducing lucid dreams whenever I wish. From my personal experiences I honestly don't think the methods proposed by Stephen LaBerge (the guy who coined the term behind my name) offers any techniques that are practical and make you into a truly skilled lucid dreamer. Besides that Laberge guy is stuck in a spiritual strait jacket built by his own illogicalities and large ego. There really is nothing "heavily meaningful" behind the name I use here and I personally find it to be more casual. You're making it seem like I'm a self proclaimed Tibetan rinponche or Taoist immortal and at this point in time I'm clearly neither. Now those names are the real deal and I never claimed to be either one of them. Again, I apologize for misjudging and I'll look into your post again. Thanks.

I'm still sort of new to this stuff man. You or anyone else on here shouldn't have to be a dick to the newcomers. So yeah... quit trolling and stop being a dick.

I finally decided to set my pride aside and drop the entire "Theravada vs All seemingly opposing schools of Buddhism" mentality (along with the meaningless labels) and came to the conclusion that other schools are also valid and can provide many great things along the journey to enlightenment. In fact I feel more at home with the Mahayana school as it provides me with a middle ground between Theravadin Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and Taoism without the strict restrictions set upon in the Theravadin tradition. My question now is can the Rinzai & Soto schools in zen work well synergistically with neidan practices?

My sources have told me that fusion of the five elements is required in order to obtain an ability such as telepathy. I'm sure telepathy falls under the "psychic" category. You can look into that in the healing dao/Tao Yoga system. I am not up to that advanced level yet but I am wondering if fusion of the five elements allows communication with animals, plants and other humans as well. I'm almost certain it does considering all the spiritual ground that the healing dao system covers as well as it's versatility. You may find what you're looking for there in that system. As far as "psychic" abilities go (I'm uncomfortable with the word psychic) you can say that I'm mildly psychic. All my experiences have occurred in my dreams and I'm able to predict future events through them. This happens quite frequently though it's not something that happens ALL the time. I want to see if my practices will take me anywhere. If you want to see your own aura try this: 1) At night time turn on your hallway light. 2) Go inside of a dark room and leave your door closed ONLY about 3/4ths of the way. 3) Stand behind your door in the semi dark room and point your index fingers together. Put your fingers in front of you at eye level. 4) Keep your fingers about a half inch apart (don't allow them to touch) and about a half inch away from the door (again, without touching). 5) Stare between your fingers until your eyes adjust to the dark and you'll see a soft glow around them and perhaps in-between them. 6) Pull your fingers apart slowly and you'll experience a clear streak of light left behind by your fingers. It should disappear within several seconds. I learned this from a book written by a karate master named Sensei Sugiyama, Shojiro Have fun. If you're looking into books regarding Tao Yoga to help ground you in the basics look no further than the works of Eric Yudelove. 100 Days To Better Health, Good Sex & Long Life as a starter and then move onto Taoist Yoga & Sexual Energy. They won't waste your time and helps you to piece together Tao Yoga into a practical working system step by step. But remember that books are never a replacement for direct transmission from a real teacher,

Does the ability for plant communication have anything to do with fusion of the five elements? Also can the same method used to communicate with plants (I'm assuming it's telepathic communication) be used with humans AND animals as well? To the OP: Try this book. In the book description it mentions Qigong for communication with plants and animals.