chaosbananaman

Hey, I used to be part of that cult too then i left few years ago I know it took you guys a lot of courage to come out like this. Especially cause the way he keeps control is through fear of the "egregore". In reality, the so called "egregore" is a big nothingburger. 99% of his techniques were visualization based that didn't do anything other than teach your body to stimulate the nerves. The ones that did have results were very much borrowed from many forceful breathing techniques you see in some Tibetan and hindu practices. I think @freeform's advice is great. Go live your life for few months for a mental reset. That's likely much better in the long run than doing complicated cleansing rituals and stuff. That's what i did and i have never felt better. I hope this post gives you some peace of mind. You guys will be alright

I never bought the argument that the Chinese government is to be solely blamed for the decline of authentic spirituality in China. In fact, when you look at India you can actually also see similar decline of authentic spirituality despite never having gone through the cultural revolution or whatever other reasoning people attribute to China's decline of spiritual practices. There are Indian people that have become so disillusioned with the spiritual scene in India that they've opted to go to South East Asia to find a teacher. The truth is that the decline of spirituality in China is a combination of several different factors including long internal conflict (civil war), effect of colonialism, modernization, poor government policies, and more. To simply attribute this to "da ccp" lacks nuance and doesn't fully capture the complex history of the Chinese nation.

@Taoist Texts Thanks. Judging by the actual text, it does seem like you are correct that he never actually had a serious back issues. My question mainly came from a sentence in wikipedia that seems to suggest that he did which i thought was odd Anyways, i appreciate you taking the time to actually provide the material sources

In the early Buddhist texts, it seems that Buddha was actually riddled with some health issues including a really bad back pain from a slipped disc. From everything i've gathered in regards to high level practitioners throughout history as well as modern era, it seems like their bodies are well kept and healthy even until death. So why is Buddha depicted this way? I would assume that someone as enlightened as Buddha would have some super ability to keep his body healthy until the very end, but it seems that he was just a normal old man physiologically Anyone have some interesting insight?

£50 is a lot if you are from a 3rd world country though. He says he is from Jamaica in his introduction post. That's pretty much the weekly wage there. Try emailing a teacher running an online course and tell them your situation. It's entirely possible that they might give you a discount. From what i know Nathan Brine has an online course where it is just one time fee so it's possible that you can slowly save up and eventually pay for it. There is always a way if you try.

If you don't mind me asking, what else does alchemy fuel in your tradition other than meditative states?

I still don't really understand how Reiki works at all. What actually is the underlying mechanism that allows ordinary people to just give out transmissions by drawing bunch of symbols? I know that their explanation is that the symbols they draw allows them to channel some kind of 'universal energy' but this barely answers to question of how. I know that there are western magical groups that draw symbols to do something similar that Reiki does. But I am not sure how they even began to create such a thing. I want to understand it well enough that i could, in theory, replicate it (not that i will. Just for the sake of fully understanding the how).

Wondering if it would be considered rude to reject your teacher's instructions if they present you with external alchemical substance to take. Maybe it's something to consider beforehand when looking for a teacher

Had a talk with someone really advanced where they mentioned that at high levels of Nei dan, Wai dan actually becomes an integral part of the practice. Working with mercury, consumption of metal and minerals. Obviously, this only happens when your body is prepared and you have built up your energetic system to the point that you could go through with it without any detriment to the body. It also happens under strict supervision of the teacher. From my understanding, these metals are charged through the emission of the teacher to cause certain effects in the body of the student who consumes it. But i was wondering if something like this really is necessary. Seems a little dumb that i need to consume things to help me achieve new levels in my cultivation. There is also the consideration of just how safe this kind of thing is. I know there are many high level Yoga and Buddhist systems that work with external alchemy as well. Especially with compounds like Mercury. But i always figured that the only thing you really need is you and your body. Any thoughts?

Looking to get a surgery soon. Looks like they will use a permanent stainless steel suture in the body. I was wondering how foreign objectives and implants in body affect practice especially at the high levels. Especially if someone has some kind of really big implant like a titanium rod in the femur. How would that affect practice? Saw a thread similar to this where there were some interesting discussions about metal and their interaction with Qi: Wondering how this would change if the metal was in the body instead

Making my newcomer post. I am currently part of a neidan school (which shall not be named) which i am contemplating on quitting because of the disagreements with the direction that it is going. I am likely going to leave soon and start doing spring forest qigong or something. Anyways that's my story