liminal_luke

There's so much to worry about these days. So far I've survived all sorts of alledgedly imminent threats, everything from COVID to climate change. I'm still here despite the threat of nuclear war and civil war, despite clashing views about the ethics of buying sports cars with lucre amassed off Daoist students desperate for immortality or a good time in the sack. I'm still kicking no matter what the pundits are saying now about Red Waves and Red trickles and election fraud yes or no. Not even super powerful Russian wizard neigung enemies can get me. Most of the time things turn out OK.

Money is a funny thing. Some people's neurotic tendency might be to overcharge, but I've always considered myself a neurotic undercharger. Which is not to say that things can't be given away freely in a good way; sometimes they can if one has the right spirit for that. I don't think one way is better or more virtuous than the other.

Thanks for the pic, Shadow_self. You look exactly as I'd imagined! I posted somewhat in jest as I've had some training in internal alchemy, that is if you count attending workshops by one of Mantak Chia's oldest students, Michael Winn. Something tells me you don't count such workshops but I'll share my understanding anyway. Yin and yang are gathered in an internal cauldron so that the fire of yang heats the water of yin and creates steam which is neither yin nor yang but rather neutral. In the beginning levels the yin and yang are gathered from ones own body, then earthly surroundings, then from the sun and moon, then the stars...and so forth. That's my understanding and Michael Winn's alchemical teaching in a very condensed nutshell. Does this accord with your view? I gather that this process has something to do with neigong and neidan though I don't know what these terms really mean or how they might differ from each other. If you're willing to expand on or correct my understanding, please do.

Bums like me who don't know "what exactly is neidan" and read this thread in hopes of finding out will be in for a disappointing ten pages.

Stop walking around barefoot? On second thought, Steve is probably right: better to rely on your own intuition.

Maybe you're right but this is hard to wrap my mind around. I think of someone like Rumi. Obviously he could discriminate bad from good when it comes to his own poetry. Did he embody the original self? I can't know for sure but most would agree he was a spiritually advanced practitioneer. Maybe there's a paradox here. Perhaps it's possible to appreciate everything, to take life totally as it comes without preference, and still be able to discriminate esthetically.

Many people have had what they deem to be spiritual experiences merely by being in the presence of a guru. Someone in touch with that deep original spirit part of themselves is often able to transmit this "knowledge" to others, at least to those karmically primed for such a dispatch. Now what if such a guru painted a picture, sang a song, or wrote a book. Don't you think the right viewer/lisener/reader could pick up the transmission? I think all art works like this. The layer perceived by the senses -- colors, sounds and whatnot -- is just outer casing; the real act of being open to a piece of art lies in receiving the deeper energies lying behind the more obvious sensual facade. Of course few artists are gurus. Still, I think the very best art is inspired by connection with an enlightened place inside. Then again, maybe I'm wrong.

Are you saying this is a binary choice -- either go down the troubled road of the po or get on Hun Highway? This doesn't comport with my experience. Many people report touching in with something ineffable or transcendent while gazing at a sunset, losing themselves in a painting, relishing a masterfully assembled taco or yes, touching a lover. Sensual pleasure, far from being a distraction or detour, can be a gateway to the spiritual dimension of life. Something experienced on the outside through the senses triggers an inner awareness. Of course people do, as you say, become ensnared by the senses as well. There's a word for that ensnaring process: addiction. Addiction happens when people attempt to fill a perceived hole in their inner being with stuff from the outside; it doesn't work and causes a lot of pain. But here's the thing -- addiction isn't pleasurable. The food addict stuffing his face with cake isn't savoring the subtle flavor; the sex addict bedding woman after woman every night isn't having "fun." Don't let them tell you otherwise. Addiction is one thing and honest pleasure quite another. For those, like yourself, engaged in a program of alchemical transformation, I'm sure there are phases where it's important to turn away from the external, to eat bland food or fast, sit long hours in a dark room. Asceticisim is valid too. But for others, some of life's most transportive moments come from engagement with the senses. (Further edit: Just went back and read your very interesting post about your retreat experience. Gotta say that I agree that hardship, suffering, and pain can also be gateways to spiritual transformation -- even if I'm not ready to give up on art and beauty and pleasure just yet. Fortunately, most lives have plenty of suffering built in.)

I've never wanted kids. Given the alledged difficulty of developing the embryo, I'm guessing it won't be a problem.

I agree with you, Nuralshamal, that any kind of enhanced perceptual ability can be useful -- including seeing auras. For many people though it's an easy leap to go from wow, I've got this unusual new ability to I must be a spiritually superior person. Not to say that you would personally would make that leap, just that it's a danger. That said, if I was minding my own business, diligently practicing away at my spiritual routines, and I suddenly gained the ability to see auras, I would take it (perhaps mistakenly?) as a sign of progress.

Friends don't let friends give psychic readings. I had a years-long falling out with one of my best friends over an unsolicited intuitive reading gone very wrong. My witchy friend, as I teasingly called her, told me that a romantic relationship I was excited about wouldn't last. I asked her to be more specific -- just how long would we have to be together before I could declare her prediction mistaken? And she said: well let's put it this way, you won't be together until one of you dies. Ouch! The only thing that could prove her wrong would be death, mine or his. Anyway, long story short, our friendship nearly ended but my relationship is going stronger than ever.

One of the great things about this board, in my view, is that people ask for and receive help. Regardless of which end of the equation we happen to find ourselves on in a given instance, this help busines is tricky. Few get it exactly right. Still, those who ask and receive with sincere hearts have all my respect.

I don't know what kundalini is but I do believe that people can suffer from energetic troubles they identify, or perhaps misidentify, as kundalini awakenings. Others have more standard medical issues. Those who seek healing might ask which lens will serve them better in their healing quest. Many have spent years with spiritual emergency specialists trying to solve problems that might be better resolved in a doctor's office, and vice a versa. It becomes hard to change directions when we're egoically attached to a misdiagnosis.

Cloud444, It sounds like you're not ready to accept Shadow_self's view of your predicament -- and yet your own understanding of your situation isn't leading to health and happiness. Can I give you a suggestion? Give yourself some period of time, whatever seems reasonable to you, to continue to think as you do and see if things improve. If thinking of what happened to you as a kundalini awakening leads you to find healing resources and getting yourself on a good path in a month or whatever, well, more power to you! If the month passes and you are no better than you are now, consider following up on Shadow_self's suggestions. When things aren't working, there's great power, and little downside, in taking a different path. Life is too short to be unhappy forever.

Thanks, Taoist Texts! The more I think about it, the more the metaphor works. Fake friendliness in the checkout aisle, no more free coffee samples since COVID, lots of bell ringing. (Not that I know any of this for a fact. Just joking around....)

My mom recently asked me for grocery recommendations from Trader Joes. I told her she could walk down the aisles with her eyes closed grabbing packages off the shelf willy-nilly and end up happy with her purchases. Of course buying groceries is only step one; you've got to actually cook that butternut squash macaroni and cheese before ya can appreciate the savory mix of spices. People always want to know what they're getting before they get it but only the taster knows. What's true for Trader Joe's is likely true for the teachings of Nathan Brine: (1) it's all good, and (2) unless everybody on the scene is licking cheddar cheese sauce from messy fingers, talking is of limited utility.

Nathan's courses get more expensive as a student progresses. To me, this makes sense. The first course is a reasonable $250, low enough for many (not all) students to take an initial chance on the material. If I take that first course and don't perceive any benefit, I stop. No harm, not much of a foul. If I perceive great benefit, I'm willing to pay more for subsequent courses because I'm already on a path that feels good to me. For the right student, someone karmically attuned to Nathan's teaching and methods, someone who will take the practices and work with them for decades, the courses are a bargain. For some others, any price would be too much.

Who knew there was even such a thing as a hippy forum? I didn't. Hippies | Hip Forums

How to be a good Daoist? Hidden within this question are some assumptions worthy of examination, namely, that there's such a thing as a good Daoist and therefore a bad one, and that Daoism is proscriptive and those who would call themselves Daoists ought to follow certain tenents. If the members of this forum are a representative sample, I'd say Daoists are unruly, cantankerous, wild and occasionally unlawful. I'm not sure trying to be a good Daoist is recommended.

You make a good point and maybe I should rethink my "do nothing" stance. I just think that when there's a problem the human tendency is to do something about it and often we rush into action in an ill-considered way. The risks of an ill-considered action are greater with surgery as opposed to eating a salad, but in both cases I think it's often wise to take a breath before acting and ensure that the proposed plan truly makes sense.

My first inclination when it comes to messing with hormones, or any medical intervention really, is to do nothing. Doing nothing is not always the right move, but, outside of emergency situations, it's always worthy of consideration (in my nonexpert opinion).

Freeform has stated that he can wiggle each vertebrae of his spine individually. That's a skill that might not seem that practical until you consider the degree of bodily awareness it requires. If learning under Freeform's teacher results in that kind of sensitivity sign me up! (Oh wait, his teacher doesn't want the notoriety and isn't seeking students from this forum -- shucks!)

Interesting insight -- thanks.

My honey believes that I don't care what other people think of me but he's wrong: I do care. Because I care I'm sometimes a little sheepish about my own spiritual practice, especially here on the forum where traditionalists abound. Still, under the influence of a steep cup of jasmine tea, I might tell you that my practice involves visualization and conscious breathwork. I've even been known to follow my energy around in mental circles according to the instructions of Voldemort Mantak Chia. All this, as you might imagine, is bad enough. Perhaps unfortunately -- or not, depending on your point of view -- I'm not game to provide a public review of the pseudo-tantric adventures of my young adulthood. In this, as in so many other things, you might have to make up your own mind.

Yeah, I assume almost all of the people claiming to teach Tantra in a sexual context aren't really teaching Tantra at all, at least not in a historically accurate or scholarly sense. They are teaching something else whose tantric roots are dubious; something else but not necessarily a bad something else, at least not in my decidedly untantric opinion. Do people all over the world have an unhealthy obsession with sex or is that mostly a US thing? Many of us correctly sense that sexual energy is a powerful force and how we orient ourselves around sexuality matters. So we get this situation where people are doing all sorts of things to have great sex or, conversely, no sex at all. Bizarrely, people often try to have great sex and no sex at the same time. Or perhaps it's that they try not to have sex most of the time in order to have great sex occasionally? I don't get it. Like so much in nature, I think sexuality works best when we don't try to manipulate it from the top down, when we don't imagine sexual energy is something to own or use. In matters of sex, and perhaps bodily processes in general, humbleness goes a long way.