senseless virtue

It sure does. People don't see the critical issues behind the Covid19 conspiracies, so the situation escalates. At heart it's about alienation where people losing their faith in health care professionals and academics. In my opinion, it's probably got to do with how the increasingly prominent business and corporate side of modern medicine feels less humane and caring. People seek medicine to be tended and cared as persons, not to be fleeced and taken advantage of as money bags. What does that tell you about the society in general then? What made people lose their respect for professionals?

There are subtleties in the matter, and I'm not a learned Dharma proponent. Bodhichitta is intrinsic to the Buddhanature itself: it never decreases or increases, but our familiarity with it may become clouded. Bodhichitta's relative expressions may indeed take some mind particular mental states, but these are mindfulness and calming meditation practices then. Constant meditation, even if gentle, supposes a stable enough mind that can endure the process without aggravating any issues, whether emotional or energetic. If this is indeed a problem you are having, then you need to seek help how to get healthier and more stable first. — I'm saying this with all empathy and respect because I started with similar sounding issues myself. It's very important to have the basic understanding correct and ground yourself emotionally. I don't know about advanced practice, but I understand that you want to have things in your own way. Room for learning starts with the admission that we really don't know much and are prone to err, doesn't it? That's at least what I have had to admit perpetually. I'll now bow out of the discussion because I don't really have clear idea how I could be of further benefit to you. I'm still a student myself, so I remain cautious about the possibility of slipping ignorant advice.

I meant Bodhichitta from the usual doctrinal and application perspective, which means having awareness and aspiration to help all sentient beings. Hmm. This... is not Bodhichitta. Or at least it seems that there is something very peculiar or uncommon in how you apply it. There is the concept of four immeasurables (loving-kindness, compassion, empathic joy, and tranquility) that are taken as meditation objects. These, like Bodhichitta, have no meditative reference point of dwelling in the "heart" in any general sense. As for forcibly dwelling on anything or exertion while meditating: always a bad idea. I suspect that there is something fundamentally wrong in how you have approach meditation in the past, but maybe today also. Maybe you could benefit to have a long discussion with some friendly senior practitioner or meditation teacher in order to clear up whatever misconceptions you might have about the basic practice. I can only give a general advice: relax, find inner peace through simplicity, and try to appreciate that you don't have to know. The process of Enlightenment is about shedding illusions in the end.

@TranquilTurmoil Mahayana is a truly wide subject to study. Bodhichitta is a core tenet which should have come up already, and I'm quite certain that without Bodhichitta constantly used as a reference point this type of analysis will not lead to satisfying conclusions. Many of your questions could already be answered from the Bodhichitta perspective decisively, such as individual vs. universal liberation you referred to in different terms.

Mahayana is often intellectualized and turned into cute philosophical discussions for the sake of introducing the topic. This does great injustice to the actual practice, which is all about discovering the natural awareness of the compassionate heart. The key to all Mahayana practice is developing Bodhichitta which is the unconditional desire to help and benefit others through the lenses of wisdom. Real unconditional love comes about when our lives turn inside out from the usual ego-centrism to an unshackled expression of wanting everyone to be happy instead of seeking personal fulfillment and stimulation head on. The ordinary pain and pleasure originate from clinging to the fragile and limited self-view which can't transcend the ravages of time and eventual death because it associates with the physical body. Hence it's sometimes said in the Mahayana view that pain and pleasure are the same: It's the result of the false self that the sentient beings in samsara cultivate, and realizing Enlightenment is about familiarizing genuine and lasting happiness through Bodhichitta.

What are you wishing to accomplish by this move? I don't know what your long term goals are, but this is my experience: Much of the skill of stillness is dependent on actualizing and perfecting the life or patience and forbearance, both on the meditation cushion and in everyday life. Attempting shortcuts leads to stagnation and misfortune.

No problem with that. Yes. For example, the Bagua trigrams are a very useful general concept for understanding Chinese philosophy nuances in various uses, but it takes time and exposure to develop the intuition how they might be used and what do they signify in each context. It's good to be able to trust one's own gut instinct. It will make more sense later if you develop the desire to learn the subtle details.

Ask them about the DVDs directly. From what I can tell, you would need to become a member to buy or receive them. https://stillnessmovement.com/learn/ It seems that they have removed DVD sales from public circulation, so that it doesn't get peddled around by uncommitted people. Michael Lomax has previously written that he would prefer people to send back the DVDs if they don't really practice the art he teaches.

Tread carefully. It's not a good idea to invent your own practices. Chasing experiences and feeling into sensations is a easy way to get into psychotic mind states gradually and without noticing what is happening. I know people who have done so and now intake anti-psychotic medication as a consequence.

Why would you want to activate the third eye in the first place?

This site is an offshoot from Michael Winn's discussion forum or something like that. Mr. Winn was the most marketed US instructor of Chia's teachings in the past.

Nice that you have improved. Wim Hoff method is a very active breath control exercise. In my humble opinion, you would had been better off not doing it or anything like that. Energy, breathing, and mind easily influence each other. How could you attain proper calmness if you kept doing all types of stimulating activity? I have given what advice I can and wish you good future pursuits. It's your choice what you want to learn and practice.

Quoting Freeform on Mantak Chia teachings: About "semen retention" practices by Chia (and other fake teachers):

Can you give any more tangible examples of Buddhist practices that concentrate on "the upper part of the body"? I'm also wondering how familiar you are with different types of Buddhist practice. Do you have much experience in them? I am partly asking these because I find your assessment of Buddhist practice kind of simplistic and missing the point. Mahayana Buddhism at least is very particular about that the heart is the seat of awareness (emptiness) and that the calmness of heart is the foundation for successful meditation. Buddhism has a lot of different preliminary practices and trainable preconditions that are meant for opening the heartspace, starting from the Noble Eightfold Path that culminates into Samadhi and ranging to Tibetan Buddhism which offers an entire genre of these, Ngöndro. Some Buddhist practices utilize visualizations, which are a valid example of Shen stimulating methods in terms of Daoist philosophy, but such either are advanced methods or they utilize Enlightened blessings that transform the energies through the heart-centric awareness by design. I will have to disagree. Consciousness relates more to Daoist methods and Theravada Buddhism's Jhana trances because these traditions want to cultivate consciousness essentially. Mahayana Buddhism is about awareness, and there is a distinct emphasis there about disregarding the strange phenomena of consciousness to support the familiarization with the plain and ordinary awareness. I feel that @Cleansox @freeform can comment better, but the general consensus that I've understood is that Mantak Chia has often appropriated genuine Neidan sources in a copy-paste fashion and without understanding or experiencing how the genuine Neidan transformations happen through non-action and stillness. The original Neidan texts were meant as road maps in that process, not as practical instruction manuals. A tree is known by its fruits!

Rest of your post was good, but what does naming the "Buddhist" mean in this context? It's unclear, but it seems as if you are implying that the Buddhist meditation is more likely to put concentration or emphasis on the upper part of the body somehow. Are you perhaps meaning particular traditions that might follow the breath as the initial calmness meditation step, or what?

You are again brazenly trying to pin a certain diagnosis on someone you haven't met in person and without being a qualified medical practitioner yourself. Ditto. Experience doesn't give qualification or competence if it lacks proper learning and penetrating wisdom. You play the guessing game on a public forum, and then you try to bait another person, no less than an inexperienced beginner defrauded by a notorious teacher, to bear the responsibility for the correctness of the solution based on answering quite arbitrary general criteria in the manner of this phrase: "Which of the two options feels more likely to have affected your condition: your head or your breath?" Do you understand that you could be put under a trial in real life for trying to offer medical advice in the similar manner and that your advice could already be interpreted as such? Wake up! Compassion is good, but without wisdom complementing it you are putting yourself and others at risk.

These three: MCO is one of the most misunderstood meditation phenomena, which many charlatan teachers try to market as a Qigong technique. Thus your statement is pure theoretical conjecture based on hearsay, in my opinion. Offering health advice to anyone is not a guessing game about the causes of symptoms. It's highly unethical to diagnose people without seeing them in person and without having a proper medical training.

If you train Neigong with intensity, then you are pretty much using all your energy to restore the physical tissue and to enhance the jing aspect for alchemy. If you train Neidan with intensity, then you convert nearly all the conveniently available jing to generate energy in the Dantian at the first stage. These two modes can certainly be incompatible because they use the human being's spiritual reserves in opposite ways, thus eating away the progress that was built. There would need to be enough spacing and recovery time if they were used in tandem, and much of the details would depend on the actual training program and its intensity.

I see. The way you first quoted Earl Grey indicated that you now asked about the Dantian training. But nevertheless, Earl gave you good advice based on that inquiry. Sifu Terry's Tao Tan Pai integrates kungfu, certain type of Neigong, and Dantian cultivation. It's a complete internal alchemy program in other words. Since we talk about Sifu Terry and the Marrow Washing came up earlier, then I must mention about the Flying Phoenix Qigong. Flying Phoenix probably is the closest approximation of Marrow Washing in Qigong form that you could find: It first of all activates the spinal channel and brain, which leads to very meditative states. There is a similar skill in Tibetan Buddhism called Tummo ("Inner Fire").

The questions weren't for me, but I can give interim answers. If you want to train the Lower Dantian first, then absolutely yes. It's a closely guarded secret. What exactly is similar to Waidan and Marrow Washing? Waidan is external alchemy as in consuming herbal and mineral pills. It can be very dangerous and requires painstaking supervision by masters who understand causality in supernatural level. Marrow Washing is a very advanced level of practice which is supposed to be made possible by accomplishing Neigong first. Having this preparation transforms the muscles, fascia, sinews, tendons, and joints. Marrow washing then progresses into the more subtle tissues with the transformation of nerves, brain, and marrow. This pretty much is the precursor for attaining deep meditative concentration. I have seen some teachers offer "Marrow Washing Qigong", but these are fake teachings and marketing bullshit. The level of readiness needed for the real Marrow Washing is so high that there is no point of discussing its details or offering the training to the general public.

@Capeador1 What @Vajra Fist posted above is good place to start anew once you feel better or if the symptoms are prolonged. I would still urge for you to have patience and rest a week at least instead of seeking more active methods. Damo Mitchell has a good reputation and actually knows what he teaches. If you are really interested in the internal work, then he is a trustworthy teacher you could look up and examine closer.

Are you making up stuff and wanting to sound smart? The OP has had an injury, and he wouldn't benefit from any speculative and frankly very questionable Qigong theories that you propose. Such are what got him sick in the first place! It would be better if the OP just rested a while. Besides, the missing caveat with this type of instructions is that it should be setting an extremely gentle intent just for a brief while and having no stable focusing at all.

I feel this should be answered by someone who really has done much Neigong. @Earl Grey Would you like to share your insights and experiences about what is rewiring of Neigong?

Forget about fear and anxiety. You are only harming yourself by adding more speculation and emotional distress. As I said earlier: Calmness heals. Think of it as a learning experience and be more careful about teachings from now on. It usually takes a lot more effort and persistence when people get long lasting or severe symptoms. Also, their practice is different and clearly more risky. You did relatively little of Chia practice and have very mild symptoms so far. People usually report much more severe issues when they post about Chia teachings around here. You were wise to stop at the first signs. Have faith that all will turn well.

It's ok. Four days is not going to cause that severe illness as you fear. Have your mind at peace and focus on ordinary and grounding activities: The discomfort will gradually dissipate within a week or two at most.