chidaruma

I hope I'm not too off topic, but there were many claims made here about the inability to combine spiritual practice and sex, and that might be the case in terms of Daoist practices, I know too little about them to be a judge of that, but from my understanding this is far from any universal law in spiritual cultivation. In the Tantrik traditions such practices are present (Tantrism as a whole has become overly associated with sex in the public's eye, but case in point - such teachings are present in authentic lineages). With all respect to the people who shared their view in this topic, I just want to put it out there, to present an alternative point of view if nothing else. Below is podcast with Dr Nida Chenagtsang - an authentic teacher of Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, answering some questions about sexual partnered practice. Dr Nida is an author of a book "Karmamudra: the yoga of bliss", which I recommend to anyone interested in getting further information about this type of practices. While Dr Nida is the only person I know of that presents these practices in such an open way, partnered sexual practice is present not only in his lineage, but in many other streams of Tantrik practice, Buddhist as well as Hindu, where desire is approached as a path to liberation, through the application of skilful means.

That's all true, and my teachers warned me about doing it too forcefully and on the physical level, without integrating it with the rest of the spiritual practice, but even taking into consideration that I personally might not be the ideal practitioner - this stuff is pretty forceful, at least in comparison to qigong, in my opinion.

That is a very good point. I think that's it. I feel that Bon practices can take me all the way there energetically and spiritually, while physically I might need some supplementation. I'll see what is available in terms of internal martial arts where I live.

Thank you @forestofemptiness. For now I don't plan to go full on into qigong, mainly because of what you mentioned - time constraints. I don't have enough time as it is to do all the Bonpo practices that I want to do, not to mention practices from other traditions, but I prioritize what gives me the most benefit, and my body gives me clear signals that qigong is beneficial to it - it exercises the "muscles" that aren't used in my yoga practices, but that is the limit of where I want to go with my qigong practice, at least for now. Life is just long enough to get really good at one thing I think.

Thank you very much for your insight! _/\_

Hello, There are already some topics similar to this one, and I have read them, but still I felt that my questions weren't answered, so I decided to register on the forum and ask them myself. Originally I planned to send it as a DM to @steve, but I decided to post it openly, so anyone else that has experience with both systems can contribute if they wish to do so. That being said, I'd really appreciate your input @steve. I'm a Yungdrung Bon practitioner. My practice, at least when it comes to working with channels and energy, consists of tsa lung exercises from Magyud, Zhang Zhung Nyengyud trul khor and tummo from Ku Sum Rang Shar (for now the general and special preliminaries only). Recently I have begun to dabble a bit in qigong, with some local instructor and their teacher that visits us from time to time. We seem to do mostly alignment stuff for now, opening the kua, wall squats and the like, as well as some basic forms. Even at that really basic level my qigong practice really enhanced my body, my energy levels and general well-being, in a way that my Tibetan yoga practice didn't seem to address. I get many benefits from doing yoga of course, but it just has a different feel and effect upon my mind and body. I'd describe it like using different sets of muscles, metaphorically speaking. I want to continue my qigong practice, as I found it rewarding and complementary to my other endeavours, but I'm worried it can cause some problems down the line. I've read the injunctions against mixing systems from both traditions, so understandably that is concerning to me, as of course I will continue on the path of Tibetan yoga. From your point of view - practitioners that have practiced in both traditions - can they be mixed safely or not? (by mixing I don't mean doing them in one session, but for example qigong one day, yoga the other, or qigong in the evening and yoga in the morning etc.) If so - what is the qigong system that you would recommend for someone like me? I was thinking about the Zhineng Qigong (simply because of the availability of online teachings), but I read that the teacher advised against mixing it with other qigong system, not to mention other traditions. Secondly, do you think that the Tibetan approach is lacking in certain respects? I don't mean to offend anyone, or the teachings. I consider myself a dedicated practitioner, I've taken refuge vows, but I can't help but wonder that the Tibetan systems are forceful and fiery to the extreme, pure yang, while the Daoist systems seem more balanced. At least that is my limited, entry-level understanding, as I am an expert in neither. I'd appraciate any guidance I can get, and thanks for getting through this long post _/\_

Hello, I'm a Yungdrung Bon practitioner, dipping my toes into qigong and Daoist cultivation.