Phoenix3

It’s often recommended by Buddhists and similar people to have 1 meal a day at noon, and many Daoists recommend this also, because that is when one’s body is most yang, and therefore probably most able to digest food. Does having just one meal a day cause problems though? I’ve heard having one meal a day slows one’s metabolism and makes one fat.

Please post on this topic again if you find something interesting regarding filling the upper or lower dantian, because I’m not really sure of the process either. Hopefully someone else can share some advice too.

I thought you first had to fix your Spirit in your niwan (upper dantian) before your lower dantian can be filled. Have you done that first? Maybe i’m wrong though. Maybe you should try to fix the Spirit (the Shen?) in the upper dantian first, and this will help your dreams, because I think you shouldn’t be having vivid dreams while you practice.

Being a Daoist really is an interesting life! Laozi recommends not listening to anything which contains the 5 tones or eating anything which is of the 5 tastes. I can see what he means, as I read somewhere that the kidneys (which store Jing) are connected to the tongue and ears. so I went a week without eating sensual food or listening to any music and it was quite boring, and I had very little motivation (i’ve been doing semen retention during this time too), which are signs of lack of jing. Today, I found some good upbeat electronic music and started listening to it on full volume, and it was just amazing. As a sensation, it was like an intense orgasmic feeling that lasted for minutes. I just listened to the same song again for maybe the 7th time and the experience is starting to return to normal. I know that pleasure usually means a leakage of jing, so have I just wasted all my Jing I saved up through abstaining from music and lust? P.S. sorry for deleting my last thread. I got embarrassed for making a fundamental misunderstanding in my last thread, bit I shouldn’t have deleted it. I won’t do it again.

@Nungali didn’t the indo-europeans come from western Kazakhstan in 2000BC (the Andronovo culture, not the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex culture. These two cultures were found to have been two different cultures of different origins)? From there, they introduced the chariot to China, India and other civilisations within the next 500 years. So surely the western Kazakhstan area is the origin of that civilisation? If the Rigveda was composed in 1500BC in northern India, and the Indo-europeans originated from the Western Kazakhstan steppe in 2000BC, then why doesn’t the Rigveda and Zoroastrianism mention this area?

I’m trying to understand what desire is, and how it arises. From what I understand (which isn’t much at all. I don’t know anything about psychology), this is at least part of the process: The sense organs receive a stimulus. The stimulus travels to the brain via the nerves. The nerves somehow transmit the stimulus to a particular group of neurones. (How does the stimulus, as it enters the spinal cord, know which neurones to excite?). The neurones affected somehow store the memory of that nervous impulse within them. (How do the neurones store the memory of the stimulus?). If the stimulus is intense enough, there is a release of dopamine from the neurones into that part of the brain. When something absorbs the dopamine, pleasure is felt. (How does dopamine make someone feel pleasure?). The brain quickly gets accustomed to the increased levels of dopamine. The neurones quickly slow and stop their excretion of dopamine, as they become depolarised. The reduction of dopamine being excreted results in a relative deficiency of dopamine levels (until the brain gets used to the new levels of dopamine). The relative deficiency in dopamine causes tension in the brain. I got up to here, and now I think i’m just guessing.

I couldn’t find anything by searching.

That research is based upon a single stimulation of a large group of nerves which is directed to many different areas of the lower body. This does not occur naturally in humans. Sympathetic response (which activates the adrenal gland) inhibits sexual activity.

Can we keep the discussion scientific please, rather than using spiritual, buddhist or similar language? Thanks.

How did chinese people traditionally cook their food in a wok without oil? I don’t think they used ghee. Personally I feel fine when I eat grains and gluten, so I don’t know if I’m allergic. I don’t know what the best option is (no starches, or no carbs, or no gluten, or no grains). Thank you for your help

@Taomeow Do you recommend eating rice, maize, rye, oats, or potato? What about herbs like basil or coriander? What about flavourful things, like onion, chilli and garlic? What about olive oil, or sesame oil when cooking chinese food? What about honey? That comes from an animal. Sorry for all the questions. Thank you

If your new vegan diet has improved your health, then that’s great. Yes, eating wild rice is enjoyable, more so than regular rice.

But what would be the point? Was the creation of a wheat-based diet just a way to increase population, or did someone likely know the side-effects of eating wheat? And wheat just seemed to be cultivated in west asia. What about rice, maize, rye, oats, and so on? Also I don’t know how true it is, but some say that the average human brain decreased in size 30,000 years ago. That’s tens of thousands of years before agriculture.

Is the creation of semen a leaking of the Qihai (the sea of Qi) because I thought it was the leaking of the kidney yin qi?

If the vagus nerve activation causes sex desire, then how come meditation reduces sex desire? You said the vagus nerve stimulates sex desire, but you also said that a signal from the brain travels down the spine to stimulate the production of prostate fluid, so which is it? thanks

I’d prefer the discussion just focused on the scientific understanding of the central nervous system, rather than some unreliable spiritual ideas which would just complicate things.

Taomeow wrote previously that the fruit we know today is not natural. The fruits of ancient times would have been bitter or not very sweet, with a very small amount of juice, and not so much sugar in general, the fruit nowadays contains so much sugar that it can cause problems. oh, I was misquoting her. My mistake. This is what she said:

Daoists are very much in favour of eating meat. Chinese culture and chinese medicine sees plenty of benefit of eating meat, and only due to famines did Chinese people stop eating meat temporarily. I originally wondered about the uric acid problem. I knew that blood is kept at a constant pH, but the thought of all these new acids circulating around the body may cause some problems. But Taomeow said not to worry about it, and since I don’t have any real evidence more than a concern, I will agree with her. I agree with her because on the subject of food, she knows what she is talking about (in my opinion).

Aren’t you concerned of parasites? Lemon juice doesn’t get everything. I think all places have their advantages and disadvantages. European food is good quality, but everything apart from the basics are so expensive, especially red meat. One last concern on my mind is that it’s often said that when the body gets too acidic, the body gets sick easily. Well, doesn’t eating meat make the body more acidic, and eating vegetables make the body more alkaline?

I don’t live in North America. I just visit my local butcher or local grocery shop for food. Where I am, tinned tuna, kefir, free-range chicken and organic eggs are very reasonably priced, and cheese is very cheap, good quality and delicious (I live in Europe), with lots of protein and fat content. Also plain, unsweetened yogurt is cheap too. But chicken hasn’t got enough fat. On the website you linked, many people said that cheese is not a good idea, but I think in north America the cheese most people buy is that strange orange cheese which has a bad reputation. So I don’t know if they are complaining about that particular cheese and think all cheese is like that. I could eat fish, but the fish from the oceans has a lot of bad stuff in it, and farmed fish is expensive. And eating fish can get really boring. It’s the most bland and tasteless type of meat in my opinion (i’m sure others will disagree, but I just don’t like eating fish). It only tastes delicious when it’s like sushi, but I don’t intend to eat raw fish at all.

Thanks, that is very interesting! Would it be ok to mainly eat cheese, yogurt and eggs? I’m too poor to buy red meat every day. I agree with your approach too. Eating some plants should be ok, like kimchi or chocolate.

@Taomeow Are you saying you just eat meat and dairy, with no vegetables or carbohydrates? I’m not judging, just that seems to be what you’re saying? If humans were supposed to eat just meat, wouldn’t man just have sharp, pointy teeth? Also a lot of carnivores don’t chew their food, but humans do chew their food. Carnivore’s saliva is acidic but human’s saliva is alkali. The physiology of humans doesn’t seem to align with being a carnivore.

Unfortunately, when I do reverse abdominal breathing, I can’t feel significant movement of my perineum or huiyin area. It’s not like a retracting of the diaphragm where there is an obvious muscle movement. Instead, I just ignored the huiyin/perineum movement, and just tried to make everything contract into my lower belly on the inhale, and everything expand out of my lower belly on the exhale (I feel this is a more intuitive way of doing reverse diaphragm breathing, instead of thinking about my diaphragm, huiyin, abdomen, etc), and I can feel a slight sensation on my exhale being released from my lower belly area. Like a slight breeze arising out of that area. Am I doing it ok? Thanks

I recently realised that cooking a stew is like a perfect Daoist dish for a beginner (at least for a Westerner who hasn’t got easy access to all your fancy herbs). You got a lot of vegetables, meat, and few if any grains. Also it is very warming, and so good for the body. However, as I plan to cook this on a regular basis, I want to know not only the best ingredients, but ingredients that are widely available and not too expensive. So, in my stew I shall add hot water (of course) bones (for the marrow, which will strengthen my Jing energy). From which animal do you think is best? meat (again, from which animal do you think is best?) Vegetable oil Anything else? I look forward to any suggestions, like what vegetables, spices, etc to add. However, Lao Zi says not to make a dish appeal to the 5 tastes of the tongue, so a bland, tasteless dish is what I want. So if you add something sour, suggest also something bitter.

And where does the conversion of Qi to Jing take place? I think Jing seems to have a function of storage of energy (Qi?) but where is Jing found? Thanks