freeform

Yeah that’s normal. When in Europe, I get a number of local butchers to hold back leftover bones (I pretend it’s for ‘my dog’ - so they don’t ask too many questions)... If you go to Caribbean or African neighbourhoods, they’ll often sell ‘cow feet’ or ‘cow heel’ - which are basically the really gelatinous parts of the lower leg - the joint capsule, cleaned hoof etc. That makes a very collagen and gelatine rich broth. In Asia it’s impossible to cook stock for 48hrs indoors... so I go to a lady who runs a congee stall. I just pay her to cook an extra thick stock for me once every couple of weeks (the standard one for her congee is cooked for 8hrs - mine she cooks for a couple of days). She tends to invite her girlfriends to come see the crazy foreigner on days I pick it up (I play up to the role of course - wouldn’t want to disappoint!)

Hmm - I’m not sure actually. I’m not a big linguist... I find there are like 10 words in Chinese - and they mean completely different things depending on context. Awakening - Wu has never been explained to any great depth by my teachers.

I find the majority who look for power tend to shift their views eventually. Usually as a result of being humbled by the ‘bitterness’ of training. The bitterness of authentic training is a great leveller... the haughty ‘already enlightened’ ones, the ‘book smart’ ones, the teacher’s pet types, the seeking power types, the love and equality types - it works for everyone. Great way to develop humility. (Or if it’s too painful to the identity they simply quit.) The love, equality and compassion types tend to misunderstand ‘strength’... but so do the power seekers... once the meaning of true strength emerges, they both find its very different to what they thought it is.

From the Daoist perspective what you're describing sounds more like 'awakening' - or Wu. You 'awaken' to - or realise your true nature (which is not the acquired self) There's no great emphasis on awakening in Daoism. It's considered a phenomenon or an experience. Shengren - or becoming a Sage on the other hand is highly prized. This is when your 'True Self' becomes the driver of all your actions. This is 'true virtue' - this is acting without acting... or true spontaneity. So in essence you've gone beyond recognising your True Nature - to making your True Nature the 'cause' for all action or non-action. Shengren is considered the highest form of 'self-development' - though it's not considered the highest form of spiritual development... Zhenren is the attainment closest to what we'd call enlightenment in the west. A Zhenren goes beyond Shengren into 'spiritual development' (as in actually developing your Original Spirit). They develop this Original Spirit through every layer of reality - including the physical, manifest reality... so in essence the very structure of the physical body is fully transformed into that of light. Then there are the Xian - who have developed the spirit beyond that of Zhenren... Normally a genuine Daoist teacher would laugh away this sort of conversation - and have you stand in a very uncomfortable position... Because it's like discussing the intricacies of tax-efficient investment of your billions - when all you have is debt to your name. 'First clear your debt, then we'll talk more' - is the general attitude (simply because most people prefer talk rather than train).

Bone broths are really great for cultivators - on many levels. Highly recommended! Find a supplier that will send you a box full of feet and necks - they're the best for broths. And very cheap if you shop around. Don't use a whole chicken. Also beef bones work well. Roast them in the oven for a bit before boiling for extra taste.

Ah I see. In that case I don't really know. From my experience in authentic schools, with highly achieved teachers, 'enlightenment' as a goal, is by far the hardest human endeavour any individual could take on. Chess grandmasters, olympic triathletes, maths geniuses, virtuoso violinists... all these endeavours are simpler and more achievable than true enlightenment. Of course the majority would disagree with me. And in the spiritual 'marketplace' there are plenty of "do these 3 things and be enlightened in a week" type promises (or the even better "don't do anything because you're already enlightened" ones... (of course it takes a few $5000 workshops to unpack that for you)) But much as the 'get rich quick' schemes around - these things are (imo) simple scams - or just delusions. Historically people would dedicate their entire lives to this stuff - going off into the mountains for like 30 years to focus on this pursuit... But nowadays people seem to achieve it in a weekend workshop... or with just 12 minutes a day using an app. It'll be up to your discernment to work out whats true from what's false. In reality, I think most people do better with some fun, social form of exercise, and maybe a simple breathing practice to develop calmness. That does far more for simple quality of life than the majority of spiritual practices. Add in an attitude of kindness and generosity, and you'll have the perfect recipe for a happy life.

What do you mean by simple and by integrated?

It certainly does (that's why Daoists do that stuff)... However meditative practice is still necessary (and forms a major part of later level Daoist cultivation) - it's just working with qi makes actual 'meditation' accessible to householders.

There are so many... and each level of a quality has sub levels. Going through what I’m working on will make little sense to most (“gathering Shen to nurture the Qi” for example). So I’ll mention some (just a taste) of the early to intermediate levels: Ting 1) listening with your ears 2) listening with your heart 3) listening with your breath Structure 0) stretch and create ease in the body 1) line up the bones 2) open the joints 3) muscles hang off bones 4) connection to the floor 5) maintain structure while moving Connection (through sung) 1) connect jing jin a. Relaxed b. Floaty c. Inner stretch 2) create space (disconnects) 3) reconnect 4) eat bitter a. Iron cables 5) compression 6) more bitter jing jin 1) sink chest 2) adhere to the back 3) spread through the back 4) rise through Chong mai 5) lengthen jing jin 6) awaken jing jin 7) stress jing jin awaken energy body 1) open Yong quan 2) open the kua 3) activate the lower field 4) small water wheel 5) congenital rotations 6) side branches 7) dai mai 8) Chong mai These are qualities rather than techniques... though there are techniques to build these qualities.

Yeah - I totally get that. Most shouldn’t be trusted anyway - so you’re doing the right thing to be honest 😅

Practices don’t live in a vacuum. ‘Practices’ need to be applied in a causative chain of developments... Brick laying is a practice... Tiling is a practice... plumbing is a practice. Yet divorced from the overall causality chain involved in building, each practice is a waste of time or even dangerous (as a brick wall without a foundation would be for instance). This is why following a structured system of cultivation is so crucial. And a teacher is also important if you want to go far.

So do most people. Left unexamined it’ll run your relationship with it on autopilot. Give it some attention and a new level of ‘freedom’ will open up over time. Guard against reactivity and automaticity is my advice (for anything in life really).

You’re not at fault - you were taught incorrectly. The vast majority of info on these practices is plain wrong, or misunderstood. People usually either develop problems or they get nowhere... a tiny minority make some progress with even incorrect info (though this rarely leads anywhere productive)

To be honest - it was a bit of a rhetorical question. I was more trying to lead you to examining how it’s weird for you - rather than how it’s weird for others. The reality of the matter is that the subject of ‘money’ is no more weird than say jing or retention... or enlightenment... or kundalini... I think it’s more about people’s relationship with these concepts, than the concepts themselves... These specific subjects are in a way what you’d call ‘supernormal stimuli’... Baby chicks react to the sight of their parents faces by becoming active, chirping and opening their mouths to receive food... but when researchers made models of the parents faces - but with bigger, brighter coloured beaks, bigger eyes and so on (like caricatures of a bird’s head) - although the model no longer looked anything like the bird, the chicks would react stronger to that model than to their actual parents. (and similarly, when presented with a choice, o the parents would feed fake caricature models of chicks with bigger mouths, more saturated colours and simpler shapes - than their own, live chicks) Money is a supernormal stimuli of what we could consider ‘value’ - so just as the chicks went a bit crazy at the sight of their super-parent, we go a bit crazy for the super-value of money. What this tends to do is highlight the reactivity inside us... it super-stimulates your reactivity - your craving or aversion or ignorance in relation to this stimulus... So you either let yourself be taken in by your impulsivity - or you’re presented with an opportunity to gain insight into your relationship with said stimulus. Thats another way of saying - it’s not the stimuli, it’s your habitual reaction that’s worth examining.

Do you really think ‘it gets weird?’ Or you get weird?

It’s a big subject. TCM is for healing ill people... Neigong is for cultivation... so ‘open’ from a Neigong perspective is quite different - generally in ‘amount’... ‘open’ from an alchemical perspective means that plus unobstructed by karmic ‘knots’. In TCM the Du channel is a line going up the spine. My Du channel is like a fleshy riverbed with thousands of tributaries covering my whole back (and inwardly all around the spine). I say fleshy, because the physical part of the channel is also developed. In effect you could say my whole back is the Du. Similarly the ‘Ming men’ for Neigong practitioners is a good hand sized area of the lower back - not a point. The difference is partly because it’s a whole different way of looking at things - and partly because the channel system changes significantly as a result of training.

I suspect what you experienced was rising Qi - which stimulates the head and the heart - and causes exactly the issues you talked about (and more). It’s very common when doing things in the incorrect order. (Aka not learning to sink Qi first)

‘Channel opening’ in TCM and cultivation are two very different things in my experience. Even within qigong, Neigong and Neidan - they tend to mean something slightly different.

With that attitude I’m not surprised doors didn’t open to him.

Me neither. But Burma had a very developed ‘folk’ spirituality that mixed with Buddhism into a kind of tantric approach similar to the various Yogic or Daoist traditions.

Oh and the ones making them can literally change physical properties of substances with their concentration. Which blew my mind when I first witnessed it.

They’re quite common actually... but they contain stuff like turtle shell... Also without transmission into the pill by a master, it’s just going to heat you up and be done (rather than fill your Dantien for instance). But these aren’t ‘alchemical’ per se... it’s just a different form of herbalism focused on cultivation. The more alchemical ones are indeed dangerous and everything must be spot on - the one preparing it, the one taking it, the one overseeing the process - everyone has to be at the correct level of cultivation and know exactly what they’re doing. This isn’t herbal medicine - it’s cultivation. Anything out of place can result in death. External alchemy is very well developed amongst the weizza and the esoteric Buddhist groups in Myanmar. They have forms of these preparations (normally using precious metals) that are less dangerous.

Yes - thanks - that’s an important point.

That’s exactly whose strategy the link follows... but just more ‘DIY’.

As you can imagine this is a pretty massive and contested area... I’m pretty simple with mine - I invest using what are called ETFs - which are funds that track many different stocks/bonds/commodities at the same time. I tend to pick ‘ethical’ stock ETFs (that basically avoid oil, pharma, arms, tobacco companies) Have a look at: https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/all-weather-portfolio/ And also learn the caveats and risks involved - because there are some!! I just ‘set it and forget it’. I don’t watch the market, I rarely check on my investments - it’s not an area I’m interested in particularly