JackSquat

If you like herbal tea you can easily grow yourself a variety of time-honored herbs that are actually as good for you as they are tasty. For example, right now I am drinking tea made from homegrown Lemon Balm, Lavender, and Sage, sweetened with local raw honey, and spiked with an optional but recommended teaspoon of internet-obtained Blue Lotus stamens; not only is it magically delicious and slightly psychoactive, but every ingredient has some sort of health benefit (especially if you can't sleep). All of the homegrown ingredients were very easy to grow where I live in northern Alabama, and we have several other herbs that stayed in the yard for this cup. The majority of them were purchased either as seeds or small plants from hardware stores. Plus, your local health food store probably sells extremely cheap individual ingredients you can use to, say, add caffeine, change up the flavors, treat indigestion, etc.. You can actually grow or buy herbs to help alleviate many minor ailments, many of which taste quite good in teas. Oh, and I agree: homegrown is usually better. At least in this case it seems to be; our Lemon Balm, Spearmint, and Lavender particularly are better fresh than any my wife or I can recall ever buying dried. The best part though is that you get to custom-mix your herbal tea exactly how you like it. "Calm yourself and claim yourself" ~Yogi Bhajan

Your link keeps taking me to me to a 4 and a half minute video of the elephant man. Although it was kinda meditative and actually pretty interesting, I had to ask if that's what you intended to link to. P.S. I also like to meditate and take turns visualizing each of my main chakras and breathing appropriate energies into each while visualizing them becoming healthy and robust. Anyone else want to add a favorite practice?

I agree; we die because of the dual nature of existence. All our lives, a part of ourselves is missing because we are unprepared for it in one way or another. The moments when we feel truly whole and at entirely at peace can be few and far between. This missing part of ourselves comes out in unconscious actions, dreams, hallucinations, spiritual experiences, and most importantly, death. If you want earthly immortality I would concentrate on disconnecting yourself and your body from the cycle of karma and developing your awareness of your Other, unconscious, mystical, timeless self. If you want Enlightenment, however, live a good life, be honest with yourself, be true to your nature, practice emptiness, and conserve your energy, and I think you will find not only a greater form of immortality but a much fuller reward in general. Then again, I'm no expert Peace all

It is my personal belief (take it as you will) that what needs to be submitted to is the recognition of a reality that includes people who will walk all over you if you let them, along with many other things we would prefer not to encounter. The reality of life is that occasionally violence is necessary; this is why gung fu was invented by monks. I'm sure the business world is just as full of criminals and con men as ancient China, and I recommend you learn some verbal gung fu. Don't think I'm promoting mean-spirited behavior, just rational defense of the innocent. Remember that all things require balance, and submission (yin) must be sometimes balanced by unsavory actions (yang). After all, karma's a bitch!

No worries, for me the followthrough is the easy part; the difficult part is preparing myself for understanding. When the reward is so apparent, the new habits always form themselves.

A few observations on the discussion at large: First, if your Qi is part or whole of who you are, woven into the fabric of your awareness, viewing it as a mechanism to be controlled and used should always prove unproductive. Second, the kundalini is an astoudingly powerful force. There are those who believe (myself included) that prematurely awakening it can be exceedingly dangerous to the mental and physical health of the individual, leading even to permanent derangement or death. This of course is not a rule, only a warning. Third, each of us has accumulated a different set of experiences over our many lifetimes that make different things appropriate for our immediate development; only your inner voice or a true master can help you find what is appropriate for YOU right NOW. Fourth, be careful of the assumption that gung fu, or breathing exercises, or whatever are the only ways of getting the Qi flowing. No culture or religion or person has a monopoly on cultivation techniques, energy work, meditation, or enlightenment, although they are known by different names the world over. Remember, there is almost always a middle ground. Peace