Paradoxal

@Trunk @Goku76 To clarify even further, if it is the one from Damo Mitchell's MCO, it should be the one he calls "Harvesting the Yang". Even though I have said this, I would still personally suggest going through the entire series if you have not got a handle on the basics, or even if you do have a handle, as it goes into theory a bit more than most public material does.

I can't speak for SFQ, but you speak as if people don't already have spirit guides available to them before joining these systems. This is not the case, as people will literally *always* have a spirit guide available; it's kind of what spirit guides do, afterall. From my personal experience, the one that I am in contact with will generally help me in cultivation, and she was not "unlocked" through any lineage, rather, she has always been available to me from the time I began looking for my spirit guide. I would agree that folks are somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of an unseen hand, but that is exactly why they don't tell you about the deeper aspects of these systems when you first join. If someone is not ready for the knowledge, it can certainly destroy their progress. I don't believe it is unethical to not say anything about these, no matter how little "comfort" someone may have with the idea. Using external help from benevolent entities is never wrong, no matter what religion or system you practice in. If you do not have a good teacher, it becomes extremely hard to progress. The key phrase here, however, is "benevolent entities". Spirit guides and angels are classified as such, even though not all gods are benevolent; this is why it can be risky working with unknown gods, but it is not risky to work with unknown guides or angels. As a short example, I often call upon the archangel Michael for assistance in some of my tasks, but I am not part of any of the faiths that have him in their pantheon. I get the help, thank him for his assistance, and move on.

If I can genuinely smile at the end of the day, it has been a good day.

The question was on the topic of past lives and the significance of this life. I would not like to go into details here, but it was kickstarted by remembering a past death in full detail. I remember the time from waking up to the point of death and shortly after. I recall the heat, the sensations of death, and the brief confusion that consumed my past mind before dying. Overnight, I went from ridiculing anyone who thought that there was anything beyond death to fully believing that there was. It started a search to find "exactly" what I was before, how I ended up remembering said past life, and why such things existed in the first place. My answer was found after a lot of emptiness meditation, talking with spirit guides, diving through tarot, and mental projection. I wouldn't recommend my path to another person, but I found that letting go of my desire to learn actually ended up letting me learn more than before. I did get an answer on why I could remember past lives, as well as the inner workings of the cycle, but it would be impossible to convey this answer in words. While I don't know how much of this particular story you will believe, nor do I know how much it will help you, I do hope it has helped somewhat.

In most cases, yes, it is given vaguely. However, there are some cases where the exact knowledge is given. This is from my personal experience, as my spiritual journey started with a similar question to yours. It has since been answered in exact terms, but it was not answered while I was searching for an answer, rather, it was answered after I completely gave up on finding a reliable answer.

Not specific enough to warrant the kind of investigation you are attempting.

As I trust that you are capable enough of googling a word definition, I will instead give a situational example. If a spirit appears to you in a vision and tells you "If you go to (street name) at (time and day), you will die there.", that is considered specific. If a spirit appears to you and tells you "Tread carefully; a storm is coming. Weather the storm and all will be well.", that would be considered not specific. The first message tells you exactly what will happen if you follow a specific path, whereas the second message gives a suggestion of best practices with vague wording. In my experience, a vast majority of omens and signs will be vague, and will only become clear after the events that they hint at transpire. The same can be said of personal body marks and/or qualities linked to past lives. Yes, body features can be linked to certain things spiritually, including past lives or personality types, but it will not be clear what exactly is truly linked with what until you have reached a level of understanding and spiritual awareness that far surpasses the need for such signs. You will be left wandering and wondering about the correct answer, while neglecting the most effective spiritual growth practices and potentially devolving due to your eternal quest for information on the past. It is best to see these things as a curiosity, rather than a life's work.

It is best to see the signs, acknowledge that you see the signs, and not give too much thought on what the signs actually mean. If they are not specific, then you are not meant to know. If you are not meant to know, and you attempt to chase that knowledge anyway, you will end up falling into delusion. Sometimes, the signs are simply there to show you that there is something more than what you know, and to start you on your journey towards understanding more. Look not at the finger, but rather at the moon it is pointing to.

Hello! I've noticed that whenever I use quite a bit of "power", usually in a magical sense, I'll end up with nosebleeds. That said, what I'm referring to as "power" is also used in martial arts, so this topic applies to all disciplines that use energy. Has anyone else noticed these kinds of symptoms? Do any of you have any "cures" that you prefer to use for these conditions? Usually, I find that it's best let the bleeding run its course, as I feel refreshed afterwards, but that is just my personal body. As I have not found much discussion on judging pacing in martial arts and magic on the forum, I thought I would start a topic by asking. Much regards!

I must have misunderstood you then, apologies! I only started proper martial arts four years back, and have had this happen back when I was only using magic, so I used that as an example. I've edited the main topic to clarify the question; hopefully I succeeded. On overreaching yourself in martial arts, do you have any methods you use to judge when you're going too far?

Specifically, it's similar to how most humans know instinctively how to crawl or walk. It's just something that I feel I can do, so I try it and it works. Indeed, I wouldn't call myself a master by any means. That said, it's worked for me so far, though I completely understand your skepticism. However, let's remain on topic. I posted this in the general section, rather than the occult section, due to my intended question targeting all of those systems that use energy, rather than simple magic. Naturally, this includes magic, but it also includes various martial arts. I'd like to foster a discussion on how various practitioners and systems track overuse of energy, among with their ways of resolving such issues. Afterall, that is one of the few topics I have not seen covered in depth after searching TDB. Cheers!

I don't know how to answer that, as most of the spells I cast are ones I just "know" how to cast off instinct. I assume they're leftovers from past lives? The general process is usually using my internal energy combined with intent to stimulate external energy into bringing the desired effect into reality. Things like summoning or canceling rainstorms don't bring recoil, but if I were to attempt to summon or cancel a disaster (such as the wildfires or a hurricane), it would create recoil. Same with gathering information from elsewhere; if it is trivial information, I will usually get it free, but if it is critical or sensitive information, it ends up giving me recoil. Summed up, the more it affects the physical world, the more likely it is to come with recoil for me.

Health is not the cause. Reliably happens when using power on the divine level or communicating with higher-level gods, though, I've had it happen when certain spells are cast at a large scale. Oh snap, you caught me. I'm Pablo Escobear; got my source from that downed plane way back when. (I wonder how many people here will get the reference I'm going for...?) In all seriousness, it doesn't happen unless I cast a rather powerful spell. Usually, will follow with recoil on the body within 24 hours, though, it doesn't often hit immediately. The main point of this post is that I am curious if this happens to many others, and if the symptoms vary between people.

I spent the first twenty years of my life on a heavy cocktail of psychiatric medicine. The doctors never allowed me to go off it, even after it practically killed both liver and kidney function. I ended up weaning myself off, as I could feel it slowly killing me. Generally speaking, I am much healthier than I was a year ago, but I have always had issues in the lungs, heart, liver, intestines, and kidneys. Having said that, I will also acknowledge that psychiatric medicine can be a great help to some. It functions as a wonderful bandaid for symptoms, but will rarely actually fix the underlying problem.

I realize that you are asking Freeform, but I'll offer my experiences as supplement to whatever he says. When I got the du and ren flowing, my required sleep went from 10-13 hours on average to 7-9 hours on average. This is without an alarm clock, and I generally will not exactly feel tired before sleeping, rather, I will feel that it's "time to sleep", and thus go to sleep. I assume the gains would be even greater for someone of normal or above average health, but that is simply my assumptions.

While my case may be an outlier, I got into martial arts with the express purpose of getting into the internal arts. I started Wing Chun around four years ago, and was formally introduced to some of the neigong aspects last summer. I spontaneously opened the du channel alongside a kundalini awakening this summer, but did not open the ren at the same time. After a few weeks, the pressure built up in the head until I could no longer walk straight, and I was constantly losing focus to the point of blacking out. There were days where I could not safely drive, nor could I read or write well due to the pressure. The issues there prompted a search into more in-depth knowledge on the internal arts, and led me to @virtue's post on dragon sickness. After finding that, I found out that I should have opened the MCO much sooner, and promptly began serious research into ways of opening the MCO. I eventually found Damo Mitchell's MCO course and began taking it. Within two weeks of starting the course, and before finishing all the exercises he had available for it, I got the MCO going passively. The ren channel seems to still get stuck sometimes, and requires further work, but if I quiet the mind, I can immediately feel the warm flowing of energy through all eight extraordinary meridians. That said, it is still strongest in the du and the ren, and I can feel that I have much to improve on the quality of the orbit.

The ones I've made contact with found me, rather than me seeking them out. I would say that the easiest way to make contact is to broadcast a massive amount of energy, though, doing so is basically screaming "HEY GUYS, COME EAT ME!". I wouldn't suggest seeking them out until you have a spiritual baseline and a strengthened intuition, at the very least. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that such entities often have self awareness and should be treated as such. On top of that, at least in my experience, you will not see them visually, rather, you'll be aware of a presence and will switch to mentally viewing the room. Thus, if you are not aware enough, it's likely that you'll miss anything happening. The folks I live with basically never notice the entities that roam around, as they are not aware enough to do so. If that is the side you are looking for, you'll get faster results going through the magic side of things, but I do not recommend that route. It is far less safe and fulfilling than going a route like Buddhism or Daoism.

I do not know much of this particular practice, but I can offer input based on my experiences of healing my own traumas. If a soft method does not work, attempt a hard method. If a hard method does not work, attempt a soft method. If sitting methods do not work, attempt standing methods, and so on. Sometimes, you need to use a bit of force to break through a barrier. After a hole has been breached, the soft methods will expand and maintain it.

From my own experiences, it can both be stolen and contracted off. Generally speaking, however, the methods of doing so are sealed off if the "individual" is spiritually conscious enough to acknowledge such a possibility and block it (basically any shielding technique is sufficient, unless one is consciously signing their soul away. Such contracts are rather hard to break or revoke.). It is also possible to integrate pieces of two or more souls together, though doing so will generally be harmful to both. Magic dealing in souls is rather misled in that regard, though, it is certainly *possible*, simply not advisable. There are those who can see the field you are talking about, and there are those that can see the "colors" of the souls. Both types exist, and some can see both sides. The color scales for "auras" (generally starting at red and ending at crystal, in the same sort of color schemes and orders as the chakras), when uniform in color and consistency, generally refer to the soul. Said color is usually correlated with the maturity of said soul, in that red souls are in a more immature state than orange souls. While the colors generally listed off as common are indeed similar to the colors of the chakras, they are not sourced from the chakras as far as I can tell. Of course, this color has the potential to change over one incarnation, or to stay the same over multiple hundreds of reincarnations. Other than that, kudos to a fairly accurate assessment and explanation of the concept of "souls", given the difficulty of putting said concept into language.

As I have not seen anyone more qualified answering questions specifically, I will take a crack at what I can. Mind you, I am not trained in any lineage, nor am I specifically Daoist, so surely there are others more willing and happy to answer you better than I! I cannot answer specifically on the Daoist aspect, but magic in general works. It can be a general luck boost, or it can be a method of filtering the fates to make things go your way. I have experience with controlling the weather with simple mental commands, but I also know people will perform whole rituals to do the same thing. I can use it basically anywhere, anytime, though I often prefer to not use it at all; it's a waste of energy, really. I know of those that *can* throw fireballs and other flashy things via magic, but generally, those folk are trading a lot of time, effort, and energy for very little returns. Such practices can even shorten lifespans. Quite a few, really. Once you reach a certain level of ability, you'll usually come across them naturally. I've come across elves, demons, elementals, and archangels, to name only a few "types". Such beings are rather diverse. Some like us, some hate us, and some don't really care either way. Most of the ones I've come across have either been by chance or because they approached me themselves. All of the critters I've come across other than the elf were ones that could not be discerned with the naked eye; even the elf was only a mobile shadow in physical vision. I generally have to use a form of mental vision to see them, and it is usually not very clear. I know of people who can see them overlayed in their physical vision, but I am not one of them. Most of the ones that make contact with me are either curious about me, want a deal of some sort, or want to attack. The ones that attack are rather rare, and if you have any mental power, you'll be able to shoo them away with ease (in most cases). Much of these critters can be kept out with simple area barriers, which honestly, is generally a good practice to keep going. I am not a Daoist officially, nor am I part of a specific lineage, so take my opinion here with a grain of salt. In my experience, the very idea of an "evil master" is delusional. As one progresses along any path to spiritual power, they begin to naturally gain compassion. It's not a matter of whether those who are "evil" can gain power, rather, it's a matter of those that humans view as evil will grow as beings until they are no longer something to hurt others. Likewise, certain powers will burn those without compassion. Good and evil are *entirely* delusional concepts to begin with, and something unique to human language. You will not find the kind of conflicts that are in novels in real life.

I have had similar experiences. Generally for me, though, it's due to a dam bursting while I'm asleep and things getting flushed away. For instance, I'll have a dream of melee combat and wake up with the feeling of a river surging up my spine. Usually, it'll be followed by a purge of some kind, and then another period of sleep. While I do practice MCO, and can generally feel it flowing at any time, comparing the normal flow to when it wakes me up is like comparing a stream to a large river. I assume that this is caused by a combination of a blank mind, looser muscles, and the body's natural cleaning processes (following the TCM clock). I have not looked into it in-depth, but I have confirmed that it can happen at any time of the day, as my sleep schedule is somewhat unstable.

Good day again, friends! I'm highly interested in learning healing for both myself and others, but do not know where to start. I have read "Hands of Light" by Barbara Brennan, as well as the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine (this translation: https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Emperors-Classic-Medicine-Translation/dp/1570620806) prior to this post, though I do plan to re-read them. I can certainly mindlessly pass energy to others, which seems to indeed help them heal and/or awaken, but I'm concerned about doing so without understanding the risks. I have never been formally schooled in this kind of thing, and it has been rough finding reliable resources online. I have, however, been schooled up through the advanced Sil Lim Tao in Wing Chun, but I don't believe that that is where I get my energy from, as I had been able to pass energy onto others before I started learning Wing Chun. I find it quite likely that it's a legacy from past lives, though I do not know for sure from what type of system. As far as I can tell, I do have my MCO running as per Damo Mitchell's course and have had a Kundalini awakening (prior to getting the MCO running, surprisingly). With that background information, I pose this question: What systems are there to learn "healing" from, and where can I start with said systems? Much thanks in advance for thoughtful replies!

Thank you for the course, @cheya. That is something I will certainly look at, as I am interested in learning TCM fundamentally. @virtue Again, thank you for this information. I wasn't entirely sure if that was the case, but I am glad to get clarification. I will probably look at Flying Phoenix if I cannot get the funding for Shui Gong. I am a college student, and I have the finances as such, so it would indeed be rather hard for me to find the money to complete said course. Looking at your previous posts, you seem to have gone through the system yourself. As it is taught in eight lectures, would I be able to start building my practice after one lecture, or would I need to complete all eight before I could begin any sort of practice?

Thank you @Cleansox and @virtue for the info! I do have one thing I should have clarified better in my initial post, which is I am looking for methods I can use to heal others. I don't quite understand how these systems can be used externally. Do they teach TCM inside the systems? Is there a type of spirit healing that is taught? I know that Wing Chun's forms are qigong forms as well, though I do not quite see how I can use the forms to heal people other than myself. I would like to be able to help others as much as possible, which is why I'm looking for ways to apply my martial training into healing.

To preface: most of my knowledge on cultivation is learned via research, experimentation, and my own experiences. I do have someone who taught me the basics of the basics, but they have not taught me further, thus I likely have some common knowledge gaps. I've heard people talking about "forming" the dantians in the body as one of the major steps in cultivation. When I first started cultivating, I could already sense the lower dantian, and without attempting to form the other two, I can sense the middle and upper dantian in my body as well. With that in mind, is simply sensing it able to form the dantian? Or is the dantian part of the energetic body by default, and forming is a process that changes it? Or is it possible that I am deluding myself into thinking that what I sense is the dantian? I've been filling and taking from it for about a year now, so I find the idea that what I've been using isn't real rather unlikely, but if it is false, then it'd be best to know as soon as possible. Thanks for the consideration, Cheers!