liminal_luke

Well said. And a darn good reason to keep doing what you´re doing imo. I´m personally a little wary of long term effects on my health that some (but not all) well-informed and consistently sane commentators have warned about. Fortunately perhaps, I´m not successful enough at retention to worry much though. One view I´ve read about counsels ejaculating in a moderate way (anything from once or twice a week or once a month depending on age) rather than trying to "retain" forever. I may be a lousy retainer but, when I attempt retention, I end up being an expert at moderation. Not a bad way to go. LIminal

I´ve taken workshops with Master LI (of shengzhen) and highly recommend his work. Liminal

Is it a good thing when people stand up and demand to be treated with respect and equality? Damn straight. That said, folks who´ve been systematically traumatized and oppressed across generations don´t always know how to start their revolution gracefully. Sometimes in their unresolved anger they stumble a little. Ultra orthodox Jews, their hearts still inflamed with the tragedy of the halocaust, occupy the west bank. Gay men, their hearts deeply damaged by the shame and enforced isolation of homophobia, struggle at times to sort out intimacy and sex. And feminists, well, they´re not perfect either. Doesn´t mean the cause isn´t ultimately a good one. It just takes a little while for these things to work themselves out. Liminal.

I´m not for circumcision but throw my vote in with the "don´t worry about it" crowd. Even if it represents a disadvantage energetically, which it probably doesn´t, so what? Very few of us are dealt a perfect hand in life spiritually speaking. We´ve all got strengths and weaknesses from ancesteral influences, karma, astrology, early childhood experiences, and our own good and bad choices along the way. I, for one, arrived on the planet in perfectly imperfect condition, and have muddled my way this far under imperfectly perfect conditions. Guess I´ll just make the most of it anyway. Liminal

During a retreat, Sifu Jenny Lamb gave the group the task of being aware of our breath as we went to sleep and remembering if we actually fell asleep on an inhale or an exhale. Just throwing this exercise out there in case anybody wants to give it a try. Liminal

I´ve also heard good things about Dragon Herbs. Am thinking about getting their schizandra, another jing tonic. If only it wasn´t so darn expensive. Natures Way sells the same herb, very well reviewed on Amazon, for a fraction of the price. Does anyone have an informed opinion? Is the Dragon Herb schizandra likely to be worth the steeper cost? Thanks, Liminal

DreamBliss, If I´m remembering right, another one of Ram Dass´s books is entitled "Grist For The Mill." I like that concept because it suggests that the very things that most bother us, that bring us the most suffering, can provide nourishment of sorts. People whose lives run super smoothly may be happy, but it takes bumping up against some of life´s harder edges to grow spiritually. Perhaps it´s not coincidence that so many gurus seem to come from India, an economically impoverished country where there´s a great deal of suffering indeed. Since you`re already hurting enough as it is, it´s probably not necessary for you to book a ticket to India. Your present dissatisfaction will provide sufficient "grist for the mill" to fuel the developmental process you´re looking for. (Hopefully, I don´t come off as glib. I don´t mean to dismiss the depth of your feeling.) Of course just feeling bad, in and of itself, doesn´t necessarily lead to enlightenment. The trick is to orient oneself in a helpful way vis a vis the apparent unfairness and injustice of life. I can´t necessarily tell you what works in this regard as I´m still very much working with it myself. I can however say this much from my own hard experience: it doesn´t help to run away. Liminal

Considering trying some shen stabilizing herbs from Dragonherbs, perhaps wild reishi. Liminal

I´d be interested in what people´s take on the benefits/drawbacks of the different positions. SonoftheGods, you said that seiza and full lotus active differently. Can you elaborate? For Kunlun, I sit in a chair and sometimes stand. Sifu Jenny Lamb told me sitting in a chair was best in order to allow flow through the meridians of the legs. I´m a big fan of the lying down position for practicing breathing, inner smile, etc. Not sure it´s the best by any means as it´s most difficult, in my experience, to maintain focus. Years ago, full lotus came very easily to me. Now not so much. Still, I´m tempted to practice and see if I can get it back. Despite numerous threads about full lotus here, I´m still not clear exactly what the benefits are. If anyone wants to chime in on the advantages of full lotus I´m all ears. Liminal

Hot dogs can´t change lightbulbs. None of us can. But if they sit quietly in their buns minding their own mustard and loving the darkness just as it is, well, sometimes the light comes on all by itself. Liminal

The Buddhist hot dog vendor took the Taoist master´s money and then just sat there breathing. Finally, the Taoist master, who was hungry after spending the last month fasting in a dark cave, decided to push the issue. "Hey buddy, where´s my hot dog?" he asked. The Buddhist looked at him blankly and replied "the hot dog does not exist." Liminal

Does anybody have any advice or experience about getting used to hot weather? I´m thinking of moving to a hot and humid climate and am a little worried about whether I´ll be able to take it. Historically, I love the cool. When the temperature inches up into the 70s I already wish it was cooler. Anyway, the obvious answer is don´t do it. Unfortunately, there are lots of other reasons why the move makes sense, and really the heat is the only thing holding me back. So...is this something I can acclimatize to over time? Also concerned about the effects on my practice. Would my body build up chi with the same efficiency in a hot climate? Thanks for your thoughts. Liminal

Andrei, Your ayurvedic take sounds right to me. The pitta anyway for sure. I have high blood pressure, probably from liver energy rising I think. Some unresolved anger although you wouldn´t know it to meet me--I´m more the holding it in type. The blood pressure resolves when I´m good on my grain-free paleo diet which, unfortunately I haven´t been lately. Will try to include more greens and bitter foods and see what happens. Thanks, Liminal

GrandmasterP, Interesting that your body changed so that you had a harder time with the cold in England afterwards. Yes, I think I´ll definately do the siesta thing midday. Very Mexican in any case. Liminal

Zanshin, I´m not sure about my wuxing phases other than that Taomeow once told me I had almost no metal. I think lots of water although an acupuncturist I used to go to always told me my kidney energy was low. Got a reading from a shaman once (Malidoma Some) who told me I should always live near water. Makes sense. I love the water so maybe being by the ocean will be perfect for me that way. Liminal

Thanks Andrei, We´re thinking about moving to Puerto Vallarta. Lots of folks think it´s perfect as an escape from snowy climes in the middle of winter, but right now...oh boy, I¨m a little apprehensive. Very fun city with lots to do and plenty of good eats though. It seems kind of counterintuitive, but I´ve heard that the hotter the climate, the more chile people tend to eat. I like spicy food so I´ll have to try that. Do you have an opinion about airconditioning, fans? Even though they´d provide temporary relief, I´m thinking I¨m better off minimizing them from a feng shui as well as acclimatization stand point. Thinking of making myself get out for a walk everyday, probably in the morning, just to my body used to the sun. Liminal

Nine Tailed Fox, How do you feel generally? Is your being under-weight one aspect of your health not being optimal or are you actually at a good weight for you? You say you don´t have a good appetite. What about energy? Are you otherwise feeling vital and well? If not, I´d suggest a visit with your doctor to rule out any possible problems. It´s easy as an overweight person (like myself) to laugh off the concerns of the under-weight. Truth is though that weighing too little can be just as much of a problem as the reverse. I´d go ask a medical professional about your situation and get expert advice. Liminal

Here in Zacatecas, Mexico the Witnesses approach me on the street and ask if I speak English. When I say yes, they proceed with their spiel. I asked them once what the deal was with the English thing, don´t Spanish speaking people need saving too? They explained that their Spanish language service was already full, but they still had room in their new English language service for new converts. For some reason, all the prostelitizing types (and there are many) like to hang out in the downtown Starbucks. Guess they go where the heathens are. Anyway, when two nicely dressed women approached me having my morning coffee and asked if I spoke English I knew what was up. I said that yes, I did, but I had a personal policy against talking about spiritual matters in Starbucks. If they wanted to chat, perhaps they could share their favorite mole recipes? Now, that´s a subject that would of interested me. Incredibly, they wouldn´t be deterred so easily. Even claimed that their religion wasn´t really "spiritual" so sharing their literature and such didn´t violate my no-spiritual-conversation rule. I asked if it involved Jesus or the Bible and, well, there wasn´t really any way to weasle out of that one. I explained that in my view Bible talk counted as spiritual and sent them on their way. Liminal

Alas, we are all unintentionally harmful due to our ignorance and dysfunction. Mental health professionals no more--or less--than anybody else. Liminal

Oh, I´m not saying that a vegetarian or vegan diet might not be best for you personally. Or even that it might not be an improvement for a lot of folks. Depends a lot, I would think, on what you were eating before. A clean plant-based diet is certainly better than a really junkie diet that includes meat, no question. If you´ve found what works for you and are happy with it there´s certainly no reason to delve into the science unless you wanted to. But a personal anecdote, while interesting, proves very little. I have a personal anecdote of my own. While I´m not doing great with my paleo meat-based diet at the moment, when I switched to a grain-free paleo diet (and started doing all my cooking in lard by the way) I cured a blood pressure problem of decades duration. The fact that meat-based paleo cured my hypertension doesn´t prove the China study wrong, any more than a plant-based diet curing your angina proves the China study right. If reading The China Study led you to make changes that resulted in health improvements than it was obviously a worthwhile read for you. And I can see why you´d want to recommend it to others. Again though, that doesn´t mean the conclusions the author draws are justified by the data collected. Gosh, I´m kind of repeating myself here. Obviously this is a bit of a hot botton for me. I guess I find the debate "pesky" because I realize I´m in the minority camp, and I´d rather (neurotically, I grant you) that more people agreed with me. Even people who are big meat eaters and don´t intend to go veg anytime soon often think in their heart of hearts that vegetarianism is more healthy. Not because they´ve really looked into it so much, more that the culture generally leans that way. (Also, the moral superiority thing some vegetarians go in for I find pesky. I don´t consider myself morally superior to vegetarians but many --not all-- consider themselves morally superior to me. Probably I shouldn´t care but I´ve got to admit that being told I lack compassion, am a "murderer" etc, gets on my nerves.) By the way, Spotless, I hesitate to disagree with you so adamantly here because for the most part I have so much respect for your point of view. Being a guy who mostly shys away from controversy (although perhaps you wouldn´t know it from my online persona) I hesitate to contradict you. Like I say though, the whole vegetarian thing is kind of a hot button for me and I didn´t want to be silent. Liminal.

The difference between conventional prayer and magical asking comes down to this: most people don´t believe conventional prayer works. Therefore, it´s ok. About magic they aren´t so sure. Liminal

When I took a chi nei tsang massage workshop with Gilles Marin he told us that we "are our organs." We don´t "have" a liver, heart, lungs, etc. There´s no divide between our body and ourselves. It´s not our heart beating, it´s us beating. Liminal

Oh for sure, but don´t feel like only people who suffer from premature ejaculation miss out. There are so many ways not to enjoy sex. Certainly it can be the beautiful experience you describe, but for many many people it is not. Liminal

Examination, if it goes very deep, leads to acceptance. And when we accept gracefully the clunky parts of our lives--and we´ve all got ´em--we grow. Life takes on a sweetness and a depth it wouldn´t have if everything always happened the way we think we want it to. Liminal

I hate to take a perfectly good thread about the benefits of eating cottage cheese mixed with flax oil and turn it into a debate about vegetarianism, but I hear about that pesky "China Study" and I just can´t help myself. (Perhaps it´s all that meat I´ve been eating.) Anyway, for those interested in a critical take on the science behind said China study there´s this-- http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/