gendao

Neidan is a pseudo-reversal (UNdoing) of the normal chronology of life to become more childlike and Pre-Heavenly...and attain the last stage of the Campbellian Journey - freedom to live beyond all duality/polarity as a master of 2 worlds. And it requires nothing other than what we already have inside - our own true Nature. But obviously this is just my loose interpretation - and is certainly open for debate!

Lol, well Christianity focuses a lot on the Hero dramatically seeking Atonement with the Father...whereas Daoism sort of picks up where that leaves off into the latter stages of the universal quest for "Lifenlightenment" (life/命/Tree of Life + enlightenment/性/Tree of Knowledge). Similar to an idealized, "utopian," Edenic paradise before "the Fall," Daoism seeks a spiraled "return" to our original "True Nature" (which already exists and thus just must be unblocked, not created). Our True Nature and "Self" is perfect - by nature. The arguable differences are that Daoism is more DIY to rediscover our own Nature, rather than requiring some middleman to overcome our Nature.

You may be on the wrong planet for that, then...?

^ Good questions... Could you elaborate on your bad experiences with Clyman's practices?

Lol, so you mad that your Chinese wifey didn't want to do chores for a month due to Chinese culture? Well, this is actually a great example of the culture gap. - Chinese medicine views childbirth as very taxing on a woman's body, and so prescribes 30 days of rest (坐月子/zuo yuezi) with herbs and no bathing (or just no cold bathing?), etc... - Whereas many American women pride themselves on how fast they can get back in shape after childbirth, often posting selfies of bikini bods ASAP. The difference here is that Chinese medicine is more conservatively considering the internal functioning/health of the body - while Americans basically only focus on outer appearances of fitness as their measure of "health." Generally speaking, the West is more concerned with aesthetic form, and the East with actual function. OK, but so who's right? Well, it may be hard to believe the Chinese POV, until you've actually had an authentic experience of it. For example (true story), one Chinese mother who had actually followed the Chinese 坐月子 protocol with several kids saw a qigong healer about 20 years after her last one. This healer told her that she still had bad blood in her uterus from those kids, but it would pass in 3 days after her treatment. And in fact - it did, exactly as predicted! There's a number of lessons that can be taken away from just this one anecdote: - First, if a layperson's 坐月子 protocol may not even be enough for a full recovery, how much more detritus do you think an American woman who does nothing might actually retain? Regardless of how much baby weight she's lost? - Secondly, while Westerners stopped bloodletting in the Middle Ages and couldn't comprehend of "bad blood" now, the Chinese still purge it effectively through more skillful means (qigong, wet cupping, etc). - Thirdly, a lot of the damage people do to their bodies (like bad blood stagnation) simply remains inside into old age, unbeknownst to them. Their health then slowly deteriorates, without them even knowing why? How many Americans get knee/hip replacements by their 60s? This is where a lot of Western medicine is shortsighted - as they may never connect or see the eventual effects of various behaviors/conditions. Like Bruce Lee was a physically superfit guy, yet I can only imagine what a Chinese medicine doctor would have told him instead? So, just because an American mom gets back to chores and Zumba within days of delivery...doesn't necessarily mean that she didn't actually need more rest & recovery... - Lastly, there is a hierarchy in most cultures with authentic masters at the top and their watered-down wisdom at the bottom in the form of generic cultural traditions. Results will obviously correlate then to where on that hierarchy you are accessing. So even if 坐月子 may be helpful, it still won't compare to the more powerful qi mastery from which it derived, etc... But, something is better than nothing! However, feel free to believe whatever you want to believe until you experience differently!

Well sure, of course there's caffeine in common. Most cultures all have some popular herbal stimulant. The difference though is in DOSAGE - where tea ranges from 15-60 mg and coffee from 65-175 mg of caffeine per 8 oz. And while Americans typically urgently down a few mugs or Venti just to make it through the morning, Chinese typically leisurely sip on a few shots of tea later in the day to wash down heavy meals, not wake up. So, who really needs more caffeine (artificial energy) here, and thus has the weaker constitution? Anyways, the whole point is that dawei's presupposition could arguably be backwards, or perhaps somewhat wrong and somewhat right... A lot of cultural bias is unconscious - like not realizing that coffee is an HERB - because it is just so common and prevalent in American society and not marketed as one. Nope, in the mind of Americans - herbs are dried earth in witch's brews - not the commercialized drink you pay $7 for at Starbucks! But, I digress. There's actually a fundamental quantum cultural difference between Eastern & Western minds that is reflected in the medicine, which Orion touched on. Essentially, the East is symbolized by the wave - seeing all the connections from our underlying holographic Unity. Whereas the West focuses on the particle - and analyzing each manifestation discretely down to the nth degree (via technology). And therein lies the key for when to use each one appropriately...

If that's true, then why are Americans with strong constitutions also probably the most drug-dependent population on the planet? Where most of them don't "need rest," just an HERB called coffee religiously every morning because they naturally lack the energy? And then a few nights a week or on weekends, they indeed drink booze freely to numb their emotions/inhibitions in order to "peacefully" co-exist in social and individual space, despite having their own opinions. In addition to anti-depressants, Viagra, and numerous other chronic pharmaceutical meds... If your constitution is so strong, then why do you need all this JUST TO FUNCTION on a daily basis?

West - Treat the symptoms synthetically and quickly East - Treat the root naturally, as long as it takes

Actually, population is exploding in 3rd World countries, namely Africa... And if you only include "habitable" land (regardless even of extreme climates and arability), then each person would currently only get 2.3 acres - with much of it off-grid too with no infrastructure. But just based on arability alone, back 10 years ago in 2006, there was only 1.15 acres of arable land per person, world-wide... So, who knows how much is actually "inhabitable" once you tally up all these factors now? Not to mention, what habitat/natural resources would then be left for all the remaining flora and fauna on this planet? The fact that they were not even entered into these equations really illustrates just how anthropocentric many modernized humans tend to be...

Any more progress updates? As I've found Michael Brown is at least definitely worth listening to, his process may be worth a good shot too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu4-Dz7hlKA&t=38m35s His "revisionist" interpretation of Jesus's crucifixion (and Campbellian Apostasis) is also very insightful...

Yea that's what I meant - some imbalance in the element (which is usually, if not always, caused by some traumatic blockage).

Communing with and learning to truly understand plants can probably benefit everyone in general... But those who are particularly drawn to plants and trees, I suspect have blockages in their wood elements (liver/gallbladder) that cause them to subconsciously seek out that "totem element" (as opposed to water, fire, etc). If this is the case, then that can be a good sign of what organs to work on clearing within oneself.

Well, it was just a quick cold read using TCM and psychoanalysis with subconscious tells. Because I believe most of our problems, and therefore solutions, lie buried within our subconscious. For example, even here - your subconscious made a clever Freudian pun with needing to learn the basic "elements." Well, TCM in fact revolves around all the numerous relationships surrounding the 5 basic elements: And fortunately for you, information on the 5 TCM elements/phases (wuxing) is freely-available all over the internet, so that could be an easy place to start. And then you can take my mere educated guess with a shaker of salt and come up with your own determinations. Anxiety is an interesting emotion, though. Thinking out loud, it seems like a type of "old" fear. Whereas "standard" fear might be a spontaneous reaction to some unexpected "threat" actually happening in real time...I think anxiety might be the anticipatory fear of something happening - that hasn't actually happened yet? This may often be a conditioned fear of some past trauma repeating itself? So maybe some more people can chime in on this and where exactly "anxiety" specifically falls within the TCM system (as it sometimes vaguely gets slotted into different areas - like spleen, triple warmer, adrenals, kidneys, etc)?

Lol, shoddy construction in a barren wasteland? It still might have worked had they offered low (not high) rent... Although even China's biggest misprojections, still look at least 1000X better than every inner city in America, lol!

Very important (but oft-overlooked) component for self-purification along the spiritual path! Be great to hear some of your input on various topics here... In retrospect, I would say that a background in psychology, bodywork, and Chinese medical theory would all be great prep courses for this inward spiral...

Quick drive-by analysis: You may have kidneys (jing life force) blocked by your (cultural/religious/societal/mother/etc?) beliefs and root chakra (home) blockages - and be slowly heading towards adrenal fatigue with the inability of "Shao Yin" fire to descend down into your "kidney water" (“dragon resting in the water”) and steam it up... This can result in feeling fearful, burnt out of energy (thus craving caffeine), bone problems (like misaligned back bones around your lumbar/mingmen/kidneys?), and subconsciously striving for the "water" (kidney element) that you lack/need, etc. Just a shorthand guess here and the full situation likely grows more complicated with the whole rest of your interrelated system involved, but for starters I would likely recommend healing your kidneys/meridians while getting some chiropractic treatments to help realign your back (and xing 性 with ming 命). And there's also some herbs (aside from the obvious serotonin-boosters) you can take for anxiety in the short-term, like holy basil (tulsi) and vetiver essential oil... Well, welcome, good luck, and keep us updated on your progress!

Key protip - I believe the 2nd steep of puerh tea is the good-tasting one!

Wow, what kind of flower and bird are these?

RIP.. Curious that she passed at only 58, and her predecessor died at 62. Any correlation to kundalini or something else here?

Hmm, coincidence or common denominator?

1) Why do Daoists seek to be only "pure Yang" immortals? Why not with Yin, or somehow transcending both? 2) What are the differences, theoretically and experientially, between Yin and Yang qi? 3) How do you find and cultivate "True Yang" or xiantian yuan qi/jing? 4) Can he walk through walls? Based on the supposition that an enlightened body (not just mind) is one with everything?

Knewreck Easy Ear Guide Tinnitus Miracle (5-step holistic method) Pikay Amazing Tinnitus Treatment Also, Donna Eden says to sedate Triple Warmer & Kidney meridians + any tenderness behind ears (19:15).

Sure, so how exactly did you fix yourself and what do you recommend?

Great excerpt! Yes, it takes conscious effort to (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc) unbound our Divine Nature which is effortless power... That is basically "gong fu" in a nutshell.