Aetherous

ChiDragon, Shut up, dude!!!! I think you should be banned for once again spreading disinformation and trolling. It's your entire purpose here. I am reporting your utterly pointless post and praying to any gods that are listening to have you permanently removed from this forum!

I was taught to have the tongue in the fire position at all times (unless you're eating, sleeping, talking, doing another position for a practice, etc). Keeping the teeth clenched is only indicated when your teacher tells you to do that...mostly with sitting still practices.

The day that real burger disappears, is the day that a gigantic part of me dies. Seriously. Eating a good, juicy burger is one of my life's greatest pleasures. It makes me feel sooooo good (apparently beef is beneficial for the kidneys). Thankfully the world isn't extremely overpopulated yet. And that I'm not poor. A lot to be grateful for. That's what I think of when I hear about this grey soggy fake meat. Blech.

Ah yes, that's probably more accurate!

You can feel a drop off point about a centimeter or two behind the teeth. I've heard this called the 'dragon ridge'. Anywhere from the teeth to the end of the drop off point is where you can put the tongue. Find a point within there that feels best. Sometimes it changes... What I'm talking about is the top 1/2 of the hard palate in this picture, where it looks...well...uglier: According to some (Jerry Alan Johnson if I remember correctly), this is the "fire" position. I've heard that you can put your tongue to the left or the right of the area, to activate either side channel. The "wind" point is after the dragon ridge, but still on the hard palate...which is probably about an inch back. The "water" point is where the soft palate begins, at the end of the hard palate. "Void" is when the tongue pushes up behind and over the soft palate into the nasopharynx. This is the beginning of kechari mudra (which isn't part of Taoism as far as I know...) Another point is where the bottom teeth connect to the gums, which activates the heart and is good for dealing with negative emotions. These classifications are just things I've read, and might not be accurate according to the actual elements. Another thing I've read about is from Yan Xin, where if you have high blood pressure you don't touch the tongue to anything while keeping your mouth closed. Another consideration is do you close the teeth, or keep them separated? Hopefully more information surfaces...there are other mouth positions to play with which might be useful...

Healing with Form, Energy and Light by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Awakening the Sacred Body by the same author, which is a newer version...it focuses on the tsa lung and 9 breathings practices. If you really like the author I recommend both books, because they each contain slight alterations and different information. The 9 breathings of purification practice is a really nice version of alternate nostril breathing (ANB). ... If you do ANB forcefully at all, this can happen. When you practice you shouldn't even hear the breath. If one nostril is completely closed or stuffed up, you can lie on your side of the one which is open. This will open the closed side. So for instance if your left nostril is blocked, lie on your right side for like 10 minutes or less to open it. Once both nostrils are relatively open, you can then practice ANB without forcing. If you have a lot of mucus, you can use a neti pot to clear it out...if you really want to practice that bad. ANB originated from swara yoga. Some very basic information for practitioners is: when you wake up, you kiss the palm of the side that's open, being grateful for being alive, and touch it to the same side of your face. Take your first step out of bed with that same foot. This will start off your day by beginning to balance the swaras...and it'll be good for luck, wellbeing, etc. Swara yogis also like to meditate during the time of sunrise and sunset, which is generally a time when both nostrils are completely even for a minute or so...meaning that the central channel is active. During that time they are more capable of attaining samadhi. For getting rid of any negativity or sickness, you can simply lie on your side to switch to the other nostril. The system gets really advanced, to the point where it's more stressful to observe than not. Just some info 4 ya'll.

like tie-G or tie-jee AFAIK

Interesting variations...well the physical breathing aspect of it is a version of "alternate nostril breathing" (in case you didn't know). I like it!

Totally.

Oh ChiDragon is posting inaccurate info on taiji, in addition to all of the inaccurate info on qigong? Wow.

Hey now, don't just highlight my post! I was simply matching -K-'s post, from a male perspective. Are you disgusted with the sexual functioning of women, V? It's for the "toilet" or "potty" only? What about the bedroom? What about paying attention to the rest of the conversation, and not thinking a single side comment is capable of ruining an entire thread? Also consider: you're the one that's been talking in here of "cunts". Maybe this is a prime example of men's fear regarding women? Or their disgust with what women are? Talking about a woman squirting is gross or improper, whereas talking about a man having cumming 3 times in a row is fine? I wonder if everyone here feels that way...and what the implications of that are...

Yeah, well, I wish for a girl that squirts at the same time as me. Too much to ask for?

continued... I simply don't see things the way that you do. I don't think we're headed towards a cliff...and if we were, I don't think honoring the feminine spirit (if such a thing exists) could solve it. But I'd be interested to hear your speculations as to how it could.

Stig, Well, if you're saying sexuality and reproduction should be kept sacred, I agree. I don't really see how honoring the feminine is lacking in today's society. WTF!!! Are you serious??? Consider the possibility that the ONLY reason why more men "appear" more prominently in the arts is because of the distortion of the partriarchal world-view that values masculine contribution more then than the feminine. This is still a residual effect of the Church's deliberate oppression of anything to do with the arts of women. Like it or not champ, you are DEFINITELY buying into to this distorted worldview with your above comments. I'm very serious. I've considered that, and disagree with it. In my experience, besides being less common...women artists/musicians aren't that interesting either, IN GENERAL. In my view, this is because of who women inherently are. Genetically, or something. They are simply less creative, less dedicated to their art, and therefore less interesting. Although I really do like some female artists and musicians. And to be clear I love and respect women...in this topic I'm basically just questioning why the feminine should be honored or worshipped. So she is superior because of this? True, as far as I know. So sexuality-wise, the ability to have multiple orgasms makes a woman superior...if she can actually achieve them...nothing else. Fair enough. This is often said and assumed to be true, but I've found it to be highly untrue. So is any man, although he doesn't bleed. Hmmm...nurturers of life, I can accept. The rest is bogus and non-factual (at least on a widespread scale, maybe it's the case in some rare groups). I find the TTC to be very dense...we can only gain some understanding from it. Plus it's largely philosophical; having to do with politics; and also just the point of view of one Taoist. So my interest in that book is minimal. I have my own approach to Taoism, which won't be shared here.

So do men. Women require our sperm to make babies...they can't do it alone! To equate it to the natural world, women's reproductive processes are like the soil and men's sperm are like the seed. Which is better? They work in unison...and are very different yet both essential for the outcome. In another sense, men have the gift of creation moreso than women. Look at how many men are artists or musicians...a lot more men than women are creative. I can agree with this, sort of. Although at least personally I consider you superior if you can find your bliss within a matter of minutes rather than hours. And what about the women who can't achieve orgasm (there is quite a large group...whereas I think all men are capable)? I take it that the rhythms of mystery have to do with bleeding every month. What advantage does this give them? They are esteemed and venerated for becoming pregnant, and bleeding? (I'm going to discount the sexual idea, since it doesn't really apply) If they were venerated for these things in ancient cultures, why should we venerate them in the modern day in our culture for these things? As we know these days, it takes a sperm and an egg to create a child. If we simply look up at the moon we can see the natural cycles...we don't need the ole bleed-o-meter. So I don't see the point of worshipping the feminine. Please don't equate me with some patriarch who would squash out from history anything that scared me. I just don't see the point...and in fact, I think these are historically unfounded arguments. J/C/I have a lot more to them than simply denial of the feminine. That's a very small aspect and I'm sure we could easily find pro-feminine ideas in those religions, too. In fact, I know of some... So that whole argument is stale as fuck. Or it's just stepping up to the plate. I don't see the world the same as you do. I'm more of an optimist. I think how things are going these days is pretty great! The only thing I would change, if I could, is making virtue a more desirable thing for both men and women. This will achieve...what?

No one actually said that...and if anyone did, they'd be wrong.

Honestly.

This is just your opinion. "Tao" is wide open to interpretation! And my experience of it has nothing to do with understanding or the feminine. Well we already know how Buddhists abuse the word. When do Taoists consider wisdom to be feminine?

I think your designations are bogus. Worshipping women or the feminine leads us to heart-mind? I disagree completely! In my opinion, it simply leads us to more useless and unfounded knowledge. Then bringing Lilith, which is often regarded as a demon in mythology, into it...it simply makes no sense. This discussion and its content does not lead us to heart mind in any way. It just leads to more discussion regarding myth...or perhaps it leads to BELIEF...such as the belief that, "the other female accesses heart-mind". None of this has to do with heart-mind. At least not as of yet... Learning about how the feminine was hidden throughout history (it wasn't) has nothing to do with the Tao. A useless designation. Someone could easily turn it around and say, "through the masculine is the Gateless Gate...the matrifocal only desires to safeguard the skandhas..." It's equally meaningless and false.

V, If you can show a Sumerian story which is close to Genesis, talking about the creation of man and woman and all that followed...where Lilith is said to have been created before Eve...which was written BCE...then I'll say you're probably right. Otherwise, you're just making things up. Adding myth onto myth. BCE. "However, whether it represents Lilitu, Inanna/Ishtar, or Ereshkigal, is under debate." - http://en.wikipedia....i/Burney_Relief If the figure in the relief is Ishtar, which is most likely, it has a much more positive meaning... HIS-story is exactly the case...people connect the dots and create a story based on half truths. For instance, saying that Lilith is a "sky dancer" and was actually the first creation of femininity according to the book of Genesis. I'm not the one doing that! Interesting...I haven't studied Lilith (not much use!) and was only going off of the wikipedia article you previously linked. Sure...I'm just trying to keep things truthful here. It's just an unfounded theory that Lilith was created before Eve, in the Genesis story. If you want to just discuss the facts regarding the myth of Lilith...that would be interesting...

Nice, I'm with you on that.

I was going to question this, but then I realized that statements like "men are the gateway to hell" are actually pretty common.

Just FYI, there are different versions of thunder breathing. Santiago (Vajrasattva was his screenname here, not sure if he posts anymore) knows a couple different ones. The one which is currently taught in primordial alchemist shaman classes isn't the same as the one being discussed in here.