Trunk

Some thoughts re: related free practices... I mentioned to a friend that, ime, kuji-in complements KYMQ very effectively. It does a number of things, one of which is that kuji opens the channels (probably with emphasis to the arm channels, but still, it does a lot with very little effort). I stopped doing self acupressure for a long time while establishing my kuji practice. While I find the tips in Sifu Matsuo's presentation of kuji very helpful, someone could get a decent (free) start with kuji from the wikipedia entry. Also, along the topic of related free practices... The official (I think) youtube channel for Spring Forest Qigong has several methods that I find relavent. This video is my favorite level 1 SFQ method, which I found beneficial and enjoyed before DGS, but adding the DGS tips in KYMQ ... it just opened up, made more effective, these sorts of exercises for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr5MkMLyoeI p.s. I find that part of a ... healing closing for these sphere related practices is to push the sphere into your own body and absorb it into any center within the torso, (choose which according to your own feeling and sense of balance in your own body). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhhYrGqfQxo

Given your situation, it's likely that the approach you describe would: 1. in the short term, be lots of fun 2. in the medium and long term, gradually cause sexual ill health, stubborn to resolve and difficult to find good remedial help. Read cautions from Healing Tao instructors on this page.

to quote a friend of mine, "People always talk about 'what if it was your last day?'" and she said, "You can't get anything done in a day, you might as well have a beer. A better question is,'what if you lived for ever (or a very long time)?' .. *that* question allows for serious projects." At that time, she was considering becoming a doctor, which she didn't... but she's one of the more accomplished people I know. Pick a worthy goal and walk the long road.

A little while back I asked Laoxie what book/s he'd recommend on bagua zhang. He recommended this one and I've just started reading it. Really like it. If any of you crazy circle-walkers wanna book club it, well... here we go.

Interesting where we've come as a community. Sharing of information has paid off for a lot of people. Interesting depth pts of view. Just to throw in my 2 cents that might seem irrelevant... There's premises built into ... at least how I used to understand and approach the mco ... that I found problematic. The idea or hope, for instance, that by circulating unbalanced energy around everywhere that it becomes balanced. Often I felt that I just became unbalanced everywhere. Now I'm focusing more on balancing and stabalizing at each vertical station. Starting at the bottom. Before dense energy moves. And there's a lot of kan and li involved. The awareness (fire) stabalizes into hui yin (water). And then there's a kind of kan & li between the front & back of the body, along the line of hui yin. And it all stabalizes, harmonizes a fair amount, right at that one place: the beginning. (Not completely, but reasonably well.) Then I work up, incrementally. So, I'm not waiting, working, hoping for harmony at the end of the circle. I'm starting from harmony, at each step of the way. Then the energy that the next step receives is that much more harmonious. I'm not leaving a bunch of anatomical points in unbalance, just hoping they'll get better on the next go-round. And I'm not "chasing yin and yang" (I know quotes are around that, but I probably just made it up). My attention is focused in one place: the center - and my main job is to stabalize attention there until the polarities have played out around it. It's a concentration exercise 1st and an energy movement exercise 2nd, almost incidentally, certainly subserviently to the center. Why? Because in human subtle anatomy the center has an especially potent relationship to the One energy and so by refining concentration there you engage a refining agent that trumps any of your personal energies. You might only get gradual access to that, but it is there (or through there) and it is key. So, what was I talking about? Something about premises about the mco approach, and what not. Hope it's relevent and/or helpful. Doubt it, though. lol cheers, Trunk

Their marketing is a tad scattered . See the ordering info on my page to order directly from Laoxie via paypal.

I'm enjoying Dragon Gate Sanctuary.

Welcome!

Be careful... I use borax (mixed w/ yummy foods) to kill ants and it works really well.

Unsure... ... but you're a perfect fit for a Tao-bum! Welcome!

For myself, I find it fun, interesting, and it's had noticable benefit to my health (just from my own observation). I think that it's very difficult to prove anything beyond that. I'm happy.

This page contains posts from Healing Tao (HT) instructors cautioning about the problematic "Iron Shirt packing breathing" and "Healing Love" methods within that system.

About 15 yrs ago I busted out and got some zafus from DharmaCrafts.com that are filled with buckwheat hull. I really prefer it to the cotton filled. Their products are not cheap, but the quality is excellent.

One of the coolest threads evah!

When I first heard about the Liver cleansing effect of apple cider vinegar, I bought some and took a swig right out of the bottle. It was so acidic that it burned my throat!! Ack! Since then, I dilute a spoonful in a glass of water... and find it really helpful from time to time.

The spiritual path can be rough on marriages (often destroy them), especially if you going through the first initiatory years. I've seen it happen to married couples in meditation groups I've been in. Sorry I don't know enough to offer constructive advice. Just letting you know that it's not uncommon. Best to you both.

Not the only worth while pt of view, but one ... imo, (as far as I'm aware) there are no responsible treatments (in audio/book/video) of jing gong popularly available. In order to responsibly present the subject, imo, you'd need 3 serious levels of presentation: 1. Healing Jing Gong This would explain typical disharmonies and their treatment principles. A doctor of Chinese medicine would need to write this. It's basically, "what are the basic illnesses that occur, why, and how to treat?". Without a knowledge of this, there is no basis for "first, do no harm". And there is no basis for helping people who really need healing. 2. Healthy Jing Gong This would address theory and method for someone who is basically healthy. You'd have to know #1, above, so you don't hurt yourself. This is a normal lifestyle, nothing extraordinary. 3. Advanced Jing Gong This is where the more extraordinary stuff happens. Tissues and channels must be open, with knowledge and skill to manage same. The topic of semen retention wouldn't even occur until this category. The physical and psychological forces involved in sexuality are formidable and most people who start to get involved in sexual practices have no idea what they are getting into... and I would say that most products sold along this line are abysmally short of a responsible presentation. Too many people are getting hurt. And maybe for their time, the already-existing products were the best steps that could be made. But, culturally, in this area... the next step/s are works of quality of a level that has not been popularly seen before. The topic is ready for it. Part of this is the amount of progress Chinese medicine has made in the west in the last several decades. More schools with better source material available. In the west there's a trend for more and more Taoist teachers (and students) to be doctors of Chinese medicine, and that's a good thing! One of the points of view is, "what a wreck it is out there re: sexual teachings". If you haven't seen through all of that, and it's rampant, then... I would caution people from creating a video presentation that is a rehash of what already exists. Again, to bracket, all this isn't "the only pt of view" but is one (harsh) pt of view worth considering. One of the definitions of a "sifu" is that such a teacher must have 3 requisite areas of accomplishment: 1. be a doctor 2. internal martial art 3. wisdom In the west, we are culturally playing "catch up" to assimilate some of the eastern teachings in a quality, deep, rich, well rounded way. It takes a while, and many people are doing what they can. - Trunk ~ edit ~ A related thought on state-of-the-art in current pop-Taoism. I think that most students who are studying the popularly available sexual products, and practicing, do not have a clear enough understanding to know whether they are benefiting or hurting themselves.

Some cautions re: sexual practices from HT instructors, below. http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/HTCaution.htm

Quotes show up as a graphic when replying to a new post. vs. .. showing up as text. The former precludes easy cut n' paste of quotes into word processors or other to work with them before making a final post. It's a drag. Please make the quotes show up as text in the reply-editing screens.

Welcome! You'll get more answers to your questions if you post in the 'General' section. The lobby is just for introductions. - Trunk

There are some resonant videos on youtube, re: nomes and faeries, that I saw years ago. ...

The topic of "how to choose a system/teacher/method?" and "what framework / background is useful in that decision?" ... something like what -K- put so succinctly and you two are debating... I think would make an excellent and very substantial topic. Obviously, people navigate differently and there is often lots to learn from different points of view. Some of our best topics come from a previous topic. (and obviously it is legit conversation here, imho)

The ordering and inquiry e-mail is the same; it goes to him.

First of all, for as long as I've been interested in Taoism, my clarity on classic Taoist terms is pathetic. Partly because the books I've read often give poetic (cryptic) and/or contradictory (different schools = different views) descriptions. Partly, my first few teachers did their best to put things in common speech, and that's my bias as well. From direct experience as much as possible, using common speech as much as possible. Second, when I speak, I'm not giving an official DGS pt of view... I'm just talking as myself. I don't have a comprehensive view of the DGS dvd collection, nor Laoxie's views, nor how the system would look vis-a-vis a religious historical view, nor a classical Taoist theoretical view. I'm relatively very new to the DGS system, yet I think probably I'm seeing things about it because I've been exploring the internal arts from various angles for three decades. That's a sketch of my context and limitations.