Trunk

Cool. Practical. Interesting. Thank you for sharing Eric. I felt some pretty strong activation right away. Feels related to lots of things. L&R thr-channels. 3rd eye bhanda stuff, and going further back into the brain and how that resonates with the lower center. Retreating from 'looking'. Eye exercise stuff. Allowing du to flow into ren instead of pouring out of the senses. Allkinda good stuff! I guess I've heard it before way back when, looking at the tip of the nose, but overlooked it, "so simple, probably not important". So simple it's not only right in front of your nose, it is your nose!! - Trunk

~~~ TheTaoBums Moderation Team ~~~ 233 posts from surfer Dao Zhen and this one advertisement that is Tao related. No problem. If 232 of the posts were advertisements, and only 1 was other discussion - well, then we'd have something. - Trunk ~~~ Mod Squad out ~~~

ime, the main siddhi to look for is transmission. Meditate in a room with a Teacher on the vibe is refined and powerful and various states of mind are easily accessible - that's what pays off for students. Not to dis any other discussion, just sayin'.

Interesting. * gets out pertinent books *

I have a cd called "Ultra Lounge: the Crime Scene" has harlem nocturne and bunches o' secret agent music on it. Shelly sings to Maggie...

I found out about Nile Rodgers (about to read the wiki link now, thanks) because I wanted to explore some funk~disco rhythms on guitar, and searched for some old songs from the '70s. I found the guitar for several songs especially cool, we are family by sister sledge, i'm coming out by diana ross, and good times by chic. Turns out that Nile Rodgers wrote all three songs and played the guitar on each. Couple more vids for guitar geeks, in a jazz direction. Original video of Django Reinhardt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJ7bs4mTUY next, a guy talks about Django's playing style (gotta just endure the awful intro music, thankfully short)

I think probably you misunderstand. The earth will enforce balance, it's not what we wish for. As ecosystems are damaged their carrying capacity (amount of life they can support) diminishes and that results in die off. We are taking from the earth faster than she can replenish so at some pt there'll be way too many of us and not enough food, lumber, energy, etc. Then populations will diminish greatly. It's tragic, but it's also just math.

Kirlian photography is always a nice statement to those that don't believe in energy, aura, etc. Just put "kirlian" into a yahoo image search... That at least confirms that something is going on.

I've been exploring music more (guitar, voice) and find just amazing stuff on youtube. Some interviews with greats, how they experience their music. George Benson There's a 6 part interview w/ George Benson that . He plays and talks. I don't understand hardly any of the technical points, but I get a window into his process. He's an explorer. He's having fun. He's feeling and trying new things... His style of playing is not even really my favorite or anything - but the process, human ~ music. Nile Rodgers

He's all over the place. For instance, "qi gong" he goes into different categories of qi gong, briefly tells you about each's purpose and nature, and how they are woven together. You get an overview of the art seen from different angles.

Well, I'm 50 pgs into the hundred pg Ch#1: General Concepts. * gaaahhhhh! * I've never been introduced to "what is qi gong?, what is jing, qi, shen?" like this. :)

from mars or venus three stop lights, then left just past saturnian rings

Catch a clue: there are limits. If people are incapable of seasoning their freedom with responsibility, then there are rules and those rules get enforced. ~ edit ~ Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do about this place. I was just extolling the virtue of 'speaking your truth', and then someone posted something so wildly irresponsible that ... well, that I can't fathom it, and I keep forgetting that we get like this. It seems to happen more as the forum has grown, and often in a thread a few bad apples spoil the barrel ... is there a sociologist in the crowd? I'm really for the space that accepts authentic clarifying dissent, and I guess now I'm really against irresponsible dissent. It's a tricky place to be in as a moderator.

Not my intended usage, clearly. I only meant that I'm of the conviction that if people see exagerations or twistings of truths, that there should be the social space for them to be able to say so, in a civil way. Hopefully in a way that clarifies. It's an easy corner for people to turn, from strong disagreement to turbid animosity.. and I'm very much not for that. And that's an area of challenge for this e-community. Obviously, we all want to be as kind and clear as we can be - we're just stating it from different angles. Hardly ever a well rounded view on things until half dozen people have said their peace.

A few thoughts, probably nothing that's not been said already... (And please don't take this to mean that I'm on any particular "side" of this conflict, if there's still any conflict at all.) Seems to me that an absolutely critically important attribute of this community is the ability/space/dynamic of being able to call bullshit. This is especially generally lacking in the field of religion/spirituality, and even more so once you get within the settings of specific schools. Intelligent dissent and discussion often just doesn't occur within the (often somewhat dysfunctional) micro-cultures of schools. That's why TTBs is especially valuable in that it's unaffiliated with any school and is an open level playing field for discussion. The living edge of intelligent dissent simply must exist in this discussion forum for it not to be over-run by spiritual hogwash. It's about keeping discernment alive and well. That said, disagreement has gotta be voiced without it becoming crass attack. And that comes to each of us to create and contribute to a community atmosphere that is discerning and civil. Moderators and rules are sort of the last resort of keeping things civil: the bulk of it is what each of us decides to contribute, intent, tone and content. - Trunk

No, but I don't have broad enough exposure to many people who have really worked the bone (breathing etc) practices to be aware of trends good/bad. Joint pain is a possibility, is the closest that I'm fairly sure is reasonable. I don't know what you mean by that phrase. (?)

I guess I'm enjoying how my perception of movie fight scenes has slowly evolved. Like, way back when, it was, "cool fight scene!" and I was taken in by the battle... (which is the whole pt of course). Now I see a little more than I used to. I'm somewhat better at noticing the particulars of weapon-to-target. Where is that foot/fist actually aimed?, usually for air well away from the sparring partner. Also, I see more of how power is held (or not) in the body. It's like, cool position and cool looking movement - but all the power has been pulled from it. A lot of the time they are hitting each other with all the power of a feather-duster, but in positions that look pretty cool. Again, that's the point: it's choreographed fighting for show, they don't want to hurt each other. ... and, with as little regard I have for K.Reeves' acting ability, I'd love to have his level of leg mobility!

Fun clip.

~~~ TheTaoBums Moderation Team ~~~ Just from a moderator's pt of view, re: spam rules ... TTB's has no problem with people plugging their products (or other people's products that they're inspired to promote) in the natural course of conversation. It's especially ok if there is actual conversation, contributing to conversation. We're fine with people promoting good products and making money, no problem! Especially, as you noted, as when it's appropo to thread subject. What's not ok is promoting inappropo, in high numbers, without really contributing to the conversation. For instance, if I was super excited about Eric's book/s and went around to every thread and to everyone who showed up in the lobby and just posted, "Buy this book (link)!" ... say, maybe 30 times over the course of several days. Well, that would be spam and not ok. We're fine w/ Drew promoting SFQ, or anyone promoting any relevant product/system ... just not all over the place all the time. The other issue potentially at play here is, general conversation rules If you don't like what someone says (re: promotion or other) or if you disagree (minor or major, mild or strong) on some point, of course people are welcome to voice their differing opinions. This is a discussion board, after all. Just voice your pt of view in a way that is real conversation, profane brawls aren't ok. Open board. Plenty of room to express. This isn't really a "warning" post ... no one has broken any major rules that hasn't already been addressed privately. Just points of information. - Trunk ~~~ Mod Squad out ~~~

Links added. None of the techniques is quite like getting laid so don't expect complete results... but they should take the edge off to some degree - which is really the best that you can hope for ime. Turtle breathing I've found to be particularly powerful, but I'm still in early experimental guinea pig stages... I'm optimistic but talk to me some time in 2011 if you want a really objective balanced viewpt on it. (You can browse the last few pages of my blog if you want to see how it's been going for me.)

Interesting thread. Adding my 2 cents (links throughout)... One way to look at retention difficulties is in Chinese medical terms of heat and stagnation. That is, bound up sexual tension that never got fully processed. The pelvic cavity contains very complex tendon and musculature. That makes it a difficult place to resolve stuck tension. And, obviously, saving aroused sexual energy has that danger. :rolls eyes: Affects tissues (especially connective tissue), channels (all of them), fluids (blood stagnation in the lower abdomen). Once enough bound up energy significantly jams up in the pelvic cavity, it's notoriously difficult to get out. Add to that that the Ch. medical model sees vitality (which includes sexual energy) to be a fundamental fuel for all of the organ systems, and you begin to realize that stagnant heat has migrated system-wide to some degree. It's a big project to resolve and you've gotta just chip away at it. So a big part of the resolution has to do with CIRCULATION and there are a number of ways to do it. Below are some suggestions that are especially non-exotic. 1) Supplements that help circulate and purify blood. Critical part of the puzzle. Here's the best that I've found. Dr. Ignarro's NiteWorks http://www.drignarro.com/ http://catalog.herbalife.com/targeted-nutrition/heart-health/niteworks-powder-mix pt 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcIWX8C91s4 pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBPjZJSHr4A I think that the Niteworks product is especially suited as it is calming. I caution you against Nitric Oxide products that are made for body-builders because they are invariably rev'ing, amping, usually in a big way and that's the opposite of what you want here. two Enzymedica products http://www.enzymedica.com/ SerraGold http://www.enzymedica.com/products/SerraGold Natto-K http://www.enzymedica.com/products/Natto_K 2) self-acupressure http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/MsgIntro.htm http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/MsgDistal.htm#LiverChannel 3) ANY kind of aerobic exercise to get the blood pumping. Run, swim, anything. 4) Stretching http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/gapsstretching.htm 5) Sonnon's Intu-Flow product http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/links.htm#Fitness - Trunk p.s. Oh, and the obvious: Go see a dr of chinese medicine. At the treatment ask if there are things that your cousin can also do at home, such as massaging pts and channels.

Yup. For some yrs I stood (not every day) and liked it but also felt frustrated that I was grinding it out, not as much progress past a pt. After getting into self-acupressure a lot opened up. Much much more efficient.