liminal_luke

I love the idea of a self-retreat. Some ideas... (1) Silence. Or even near silence. Just limiting yourself to essential conversation (like during a vipassana retreat) goes a long way towards creating a meditative atmosphere. (2) Disconnect from technology. No phone. No internet. No TV. (3) Do it in nature. You could go camping alone. Rent a cabin in the woods. Even a hotel room in a quiet coastal town where there´s nothing to do but listen to the ocean might work. Even if you leave everything else loose, not committing yourself to adhering yourself to a meditation schedule etc, just these three things could go along way. Liminal

Is Kunlun spontaneous movement? I think it depends on the practitioner -- spontaneity isn´t as easy as it sounds. The instruction is to allow the movement to come spontaneously but who can do that? Most people´s movements, while appearing to be outside of conscious control, follow a pattern at least somewhat organized by their (sub)conscious mind. To my mind this is not a bad thing: it´s just part of the learning process, just like with anything else. Most tai chi masters, for instance, start out doing the same lousy tai chi as their classmates -- they just stick with it longer.

I think emotions are usually layered, and most people feel a whole lot more than they are aware of feeling at a given moment. At least that´s the way it is for me. If I do something expressive that elicits emotions -- writing, some forms of spiritual practice, just sitting quietly -- feelings I wasn´t previously aware of bubble up. Liminal

Yes, it´s crude, not to mention ethically questionable, but if Max really did dig up old masters heads and reanimate them to learn ancient wisdom, well, that´s a teacher I´d want to learn from. Pretty powerful stuff. Right up there with lighting a small fire with your chi. Now if only we had a confirmatory youtube video. Liminal

That was my experience with vipassana too -- just like real life, only worse. I once walked out of a months-long silent retreat to go get pepperoni pizza in a nearby town. I also wrote a letter complaining about the no masturbation rule, a letter which our teacher, Joseph Goldstein, read aloud and addressed in a dharma talk. Let´s just say I didn´t win the Most Likely to Reach Enlightenment in This Lifetime award. I don´t have any advice to pass along other than I know how hard those so-called "retreats" can be. Hope you feel better soon and find the kind of healing and support you are looking for. Liminal

Thanks Balance. If anybody wants to know where the practice of Kunlun leads...

I think I´m going to try the salt sock Taomeow. Can the same salt be reused or has it picked up impurities and is best to start fresh each time?

It´s possible to take the philosophy of not adorning oneself too far. Just ask my mother. I don´t pay much attention to my external presentation, and I´m trying to change my au natural ways. Adorning oneself can be a way of respecting others. Acknowledging that we live in a social context, and showing consideration for other people. I´m not likely to get tattoos or wear high heels any time soon, but modifying one´s appearance to express one´s sensibilities or fit in with other people -- it´s not always a bad thing. Liminal

story of my face my goatee says "just for men" but my eyes don´t lie

As I read this, I am eating a cookie. I´d probably be better off from a body damage standpoint getting a discreet piercing. Liminal

Well, if we can´t post in the Women´s Sanctuary, at least we can still post in the general forum about how we feel about not posting in the Women´s Sanctuary. I guess that´s something.

Eh...decided not to post after all. Applying my all too often forgotten if-I´m-just-posting-to-hear-myself-talk-delete-it rule.

Lukes tips: Take time to cultivate close relationships with others. Laugh a lot. Treat other people kindly and pat yourself on the back after you do. Spend time in nature. Find work that gives you a sense of purpose. Take time for play. Listen to music. Find a fun way to move your body: dance, weights, jogging, martial arts, etc Eat nourishing food. Spend time with animals. Mix it up -- vary your routine. Cultivate gratitude for the good things in your life. Declutter your living space. Face the hard stuff straight on. Don´t take Taobums too seriously.

Absolutely not, Cheshire Cat. Didn´t mean to imply otherwise. Just wanted to point out that there are teacher-approved ways to vary the posture that might (or might not?) make the posture less problematic from your point of view. Liminal

I´m not convinced that the Kunlun posture is inherently unbalanced, Cheshire Cat, but if the problem is related to having the heels up off the ground that´s easily remedied. Simply stand up, feet flat on the floor. Many of Max´s students do it this way. Sifu Jenny Lamb recommends sitting in a chair for the express purpose of opening the leg meridians, but I know of at least one student who asked Max about doing it in full lotus and got and the go-ahead. I´ve been to workshops and retreats with both Max and Sifu Jenny Lamb, and neither of them gives the impression of being imbalanced or weak to me. Liminal

I´ve been on the earth a long time now -- standing, walking, sitting, lying down -- and so far I´ve never fallen through. If I jump up the earth is always there waiting to catch me. I´m not sure if you call that "love" or not but I´d at least call it unconditional support. Liminal

To me, grounded means connected to the earth, and all the qualities associated with the earth element. Gilles Marin, a teacher of the Taoist bodywork form Chi Nei Tsang, lists the positive qualities associated with the earth element as follows: fair, spontaneous, genuine, harmonious, elegant, practical, centered, rooted, stable, consistent, regular, balanced, vigorous, sympathetic, solid, satisfied, on time, in tune, synchronized, sociable, hospitable, nurturing, supportive, conciliatory, comfortable And here´s his list of emotional qualities and feelings of someone out of touch with the earth element: prejudiced, biased, cheating, lethargic, artificial, unfair, awkward, imbalanced, inconsistent, shaky, envious, disproportionate, unsynchonized, unfriendly, inhospitable, anxious, worried, blaming, judgmental, dissatisfied It´s a place to start. Liminal

I regularly notice that my voice deepens after good practice. It usually goes back up though after an hour or two, depending. When my practice is really consistent my voice is generally lower. I think it´s because the practice eliminates a baseline level of anxiety. Liminal

I think that´s right on the mark Steve. Yesterday, I was struck by something Sillybearhappyhoneyeater said in the midst of a very technical thread about opening up meridians. He said that Taoism was about kindness. Who knew?

Horus, Do you practice Kunlun/Yi Gong? If so, I´d be interested to know your experience and opinion of the practice -- if you feel like sharing. Liminal

I´m not sure what to say about your experience, but the preparation is the fusion practice. Have you done much fusion? If you´re having insomnia I´d go back to healing sounds, and see if that helps.

Sorry you´ve been in some tough places lately, both with the harassment and the diabetes. I´ve been bullied for my sexual orientation as well, and I wasn´t so mindful as you´ve been thinking about it afterwards. I think you´ll have good results with the low-carb diet. Liminal

You can´t have security in the sense people usually mean. For most people security means never losing their money, never losing their health, never having the people they love die or leave them. Sometimes people feel this kind of security, but it´s built on a shaky foundation because none of these things are sure. But here´s what you can do: Build a kind of unshakable inner peace so that you can lose your money, your health, even the people you love...and you know you´ll still be OK. Liminal

I´m sure people with more experience than I will step in to correct me, but this is how I see the process of using post heaven qi gong qi to open the orbit. Yes, when one initially goes about visualizing the orbit and circulating the pearl up and down, what´s being circulated is post heaven qi. Initially the orbit is about yin and yang. Up and down. Front and back. Here´s the thing though: eventually all this back and forth circulation activates the center. Eventually it activates neutral energy. Changelessness. Deep silence. Stillness. And at this point things switch from post-heaven to pre-heaven. A person can start with a post-heaven practice and end up in a pre-heaven place. Liminal

I second the idea of moving meditation. Isn´t there a Spring Forest movement specifically for this? I think even a video on youtube? Even if you decide to go ahead and try some sort of visualization/energy leading technique (which many people discourage although I´ve never had any problems), movement is a very safe and powerful adjunctive practive. Liminal