Sloppy Zhang

One of the things I do is keep a pretty detailed dream journal. Occasionally I'll go back and read old dream entries. At the beginning of an entry, I'll remember the dream, then as I go through it in my head, I think, "then this happened, then this other thing." But as I read I notice that those "memories" are completely wrong. I write these entries as soon as I wake up so the events are fresh in my mind. So I know that what I have on paper is what really happened. But my "memories" of the event still tell me something else. Hm.

I haven't heard any formal teaching about there being those two specific types of sexual energy, there only being those two types, or anything like that. But what's important is what YOU. FEEL. And I don't just mean, "what you feel about the teaching" but, do you feel there are two forms of sexual energy in you? When you have sex with someone you really love, is it different than walking behind some lady in a short skirt and thinking, "I'd like to hit that"? You feeling it to be true leads to you KNOWING it to be true, regardless of whether there is a teacher out there endorsing it or not. I think the premise is okay and it makes sense- one can definitely see it in various aspects of life. Is it "true"? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's some fragment of the whole truth.

WOW, I'd say your friend has some pretty darn good intuition!

Well one of the things that Joel Signeur did in his lecture was break down each of the trigrams and kind of do an outline of what each one "feels" like. In methods such as Franz Bardon's Initiation Into Hermetics (which I think shares many similarities to what has been described in "Opening the Dragon's Gate" of the Dragon's Gate sects method, so for me that gives it some credibility) one does various exercises in which one meditates, reflects upon, and accumulates and then expels the five elements (fire, water, air, earth, void) from the body (initially the mental body, then as you get stronger it becomes a powerful astral force, and as you get even stronger, it becomes a physical reality). So the basic idea is that you realize all of the elements in you, and when all of the universe is in you (the microcosm) then you can understand and interact with the outer world (macrocosm) perfectly. I think many Daoist traditions have that same philosophy, and while the structure is different (culture, worldview, etc) I think the overall methods are the same. Pietro has made some really good posts about the Yi Jing, you might want to find them, but if I recall correctly he says that aside from divination one should study each of the hexagrams, what it is, how it develops (changes) into the next one, and learn to recognize it in your life. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you could even spend some time trying to embody the hexagram itself. Reflect upon your life in the past, how did you feel then, try to feel it now, and then change to the next one. As for the stuff you "can't feel"..... keep practicing, and maybe eventually you'll feel it

What book is this? Sounds interesting. But the Yi Jing definitely is something along the lines of math/physics/philosophy rolled into one

I think someone asked him if he could teach how he does the divination, and he said that it would need its own full course to teach, because if I recall correctly, he/it incorporates astrology and a whole lot of other factors into the divination, along with the hexagrams. He didn't go into it and kept it obscure because it was probably a whole other can of worms that he just didn't have time to appropriately go through.

The thing about hate, fear, and other more "negative" emotions is that they narrow your focus. They make your entire world revolve around one single thing. Which can be good or bad. If you channel that focus into something like, I dunno, spiritual/energy training, and block out everything else, then I'd say you have a good chance at progressing faster than someone who is gazing at all the pretty flowers as they walk down the road. If you're doing a full sprint because all you care about is the destination, well obviously you're going to get there faster. And that may or may not be a good thing. As for the tea thing, I dunno, I haven't read the story in question But there is some saying about "killing with kindness" so who knows. I was reading Initiation Into Hermetics by Franz Bardon not too long ago, and he said something along the lines of "there is no good or evil because all of them were created according to the Universal Laws". Which is a somewhat blasphemous thought I've kicked around myself a few times (the very act of which is blasphemy) and that is if God made everything then everything necessarily have a purpose and if God's plan is perfect then even "evil" things have to necessarily be perfect. Which screws up morality and "good vs. evil" and all that other stuff. (you can replace "God" with whatever Universal Cosmic Force you want to I guess) Anyway, at the end of the day, don't be a jerk and don't use my ideas to hurt people!!!!!

I've heard conflicting reports when it comes to the "universality" of near death experiences. In many cases, the near death experience is culturally defined- you see what you think a near death experience is "supposed to be like". But taking a step further back, it's still the event itself, a near death experience, which is shared, so maybe there's something to that. A couple months ago I read a little snippet article that some hospitals had placed various images or symbols on shelves higher up along the walls in rooms that typically held patients that were at risk of, well, dying, in the hopes that if they did have a near death experience, they might take a look around the room (as some people report having out of body experiences, seeing the room and people operating on them), and when they are successfully revived, report what images they saw. But I'm not sure how widespread that was (how many hospitals were involved) and I don't know the time frame for their experiments, so I don't know when to be on the look out for it but.... it's out there! I for one don't see why anything spiritual should be apart from science. If spirituality is real and we can all experience it, then that's that. The dichotomy between "science" and "religion" is outdated and quite immature, in my humble opinion.

I have a friend of mine who says that her parents tell her that when she was a kid, she was adamant about the fact that she had just been a doctor (in Geneva, I think it was?) and her parents were like, "nooooooo, you're too young for that." And she was like, "noooooooo you're wrong." We had a thread about that here: here I took this excerpt from B.K. Frantzis' book "The Great Stillness" on the subject:

It's my understanding that energy pushed into the head should not remain in the head for very long, but should be circulated down and stored in the dantien. And all sorts of things could be causing a surge of errant thoughts in your head, including but certainly not limited to energy practices. I would start bringing down some energy and keeping an eye on the problem. But thinking about the problem a lot could make the problem worse so you might want to try NOT thinking about it for a little while (I know.... it sounds crazy when you put it into writing).

That's just the same astrology segment as from his class in the first link. I listened to both, to see if I would miss anything, and the first lecture (the one on five elements) has one extra story (an extra two or three minutes) that isn't in the Chinese Astrology class (it was between segments and a slightly tangential topic)

I made the same observation! Except in my case.... Even when I DO have ill intent and am trying to get it off me, that guy will just hold on to me! Or fly away, only to promptly reattach itself within the next 1.3 seconds

Sort of like the ending to *spoiler alert* Lost.

It doesn't sound dogmatic to me, just common sense-ical. I mean, if you cultivate a high level of spirituality in one life, die, then reincarnate, why should you have to restart from scratch with vague impressions? If you get to the level where you are borderline immortal (whatever you take it to mean, but I consider it to be not the immortal in the sense that, "we're all already immortal anyway") then small time stuff like past life memories should be like, no big deal. It's like, you took a break when you died, and now you're back to spiritual practice.

I would say so. Some people claim they have past life memories. I've heard advanced practitioners of Bardon's system tell that there is a spirit which helps you reclaim all of your past life memories.

Have a lucid dream. ld4all.com Get to it! Or have really, really vivid daydreams. But once you get to a point where you have all your senses in a lucid dream.....

It depends on what you do. Also, there are different levels of lucidity. In some low level lucid dreams, you are merely aware of your actions, but have little ability to control yourself or change the outcome of events. In some, you have complete control. To a certain extent, it just comes with practice- first realizing you're lucid, not freaking out, knowing what you want to do before hand or reacting appropriately to the situation. However, I also think that your level of control depends on where you are or how far out you decide to go. "Lucid dreaming", by definition, does not prescribe a set of actions- you can use it for spiritual cultivation or as a fantasy land amusement park. In my opinion though, the fantasy land tour is rather shallow.... literally, I mean it is a relatively easy thing to do in lucid dreams, it does not involve accessing parts of your consciousness that you don't normally have access to. It's pretty much a daydream on steroids. Depending on how many senses you have in a lucid dream, it could be as tangible as full blown waking reality, or it could be only slightly more vivid than a daydream. But in either sense, in my humble opinion, there's no real "work" necessary. I've tried a few more.... intense things in lucid dreams- exploring states of consciousness, trying to access parts of my mind that normally aren't readily available, testing ways to enhance memory or learning, among other things. I've been in situations when even though I was fully lucid I had absolutely NO control over the surroundings or the people/things I was interacting with. I could only control myself and my responses. Maybe they were strong aspects of myself, maybe they were foreign entities- as of now, I have no confirmed answers. However, at the moment it is my belief that these are deeper/higher levels of lucid dreams that go beyond just the "daydream fantasy". To really master these areas like you would the more shallow areas requires real work. It's far from a fantasy land. Though thankfully I've never gotten to a point where I couldn't wake up. When things get too hot, it's nice to have an out! I don't know how long this post will run, because I have a lot of thoughts based on experience, as well as stuff I've read from other systems, but here we go: B.K. Frantzis talks about the different bodies we posses- physical, qi, emotional, mental, psychic, causal, etc. Each of these are subtler. We have all of them at all times, we just don't necessarily feel them and they aren't always energized optimally- all kinds of energetic and psychological residue has built up which prevents clear communication and control of the bodies. I think that part of what dreams do is they throw up whatever is there. For the average person, it's stuff that's swishing around in their head from stuff that happens in the day, from stuff they are stuck on in the past, worries they have about the future, etc etc. Many dreams involve this "sorting" process. But let's say that through, say, meditation, you are able to clear some of this process. If you were to go into a deep meditative state, or go to sleep, and maintain awareness, then not only would you encounter this stuff, but you would CONSCIOUSLY encounter this stuff. And if you had already cleared away stuff from one layer, you could see through to the next layer. But it doesn't always happen in that order, and it doesn't always happen consistently (at least not without training). Assuming this model is correct, we are receiving psychic info all the time- we just don't always realize it. Now let's say a strong bit of psychic info comes along- we might be able to pick it up. If you practice meditation or some kind of dreaming techniques, then you could get access to this stuff more easily. If you're untrained though, then it's an on again off again thing. On some days you can do it, and on some days you can't. Maybe you have a good day where you feel very positive and confident and are very "clear" in terms of your mind or emotions- might lead to clear perceptions of something deep. But if you had a rough day or something is troubling you, it might prevent you from seeing something that's more than just your own thoughts. And that's why it's good to practice a holistic system, like Ya Mu's, for example, that incorporates training so that you reach a point where it's NOT just an "on again off again" type of thing. Where you have a framework for dealing with problems not only in dream states, but in waking realms as well. So when you're in a dream state, or a deep meditative state, you don't have to file through all the paper work before you get to go out and do new stuff. Like I said, most of this is from my own experience and thinking on it. It's how I see the situation at my point currently. I might be wrong, I might change my view of this further down the road, but for me it accounts for (almost) everything I've come across (and I'm working with that "almost" right now )

Don't know anything about sleeping qigong specifically but I've done a bit of lucid dreaming works. Takes a while to get consistent results from it, and once you're awake within the dream, it sometimes takes a while to get consistent in that too- sometimes the things you can do vary from dream to dream, as well as the places you'll be and the people you'll run into. More traditional methods might have a more structured way of doing things. For me a large part of dream work involved what works for me personally. A lot of stuff people have out there just won't work for you, and some stuff will, and sometimes you need to tailor your method specifically to your own situation. And on top of that, what works is subject to change- a method might work for a couple of months, then suddenly not work anymore. A good place to get started on lucid dreams specifically is ld4all.com That said, a lot of my experiences done in lucid dreaming have mirrored things that Robert Bruce talks about in his book "Astral Dynamics", so you might wanna try checking that out, as he has some interesting theories on astral travel and how they relate to sleep.

The problem is that nobody listens to themselves. We live in a society that's very much "do what you're told". When I was in kindergarten, you had to sit "criss cross applesauce" or "Indian style". Kids who sat on their knees (like seiza) or other positions (fudoza, maybe even half lotus) were admonished, and considered "problem kids." Then years later you're trying to sit in full lotus and wonder why you can't Then let's say you're raised Christian, told to go to church, listen to so and so, do such and such thing, pray in such and such way. Then you decide to go off on a genuine spiritual journey, because you feel that you have a spiritual calling. You aren't going to listen to anyone anymore. You hear yoga is pretty spiritual, and what do you do...? Follow everything that yogic people say. Hear of some ancient yogic diet? You do it. Heard that yogis achieve a state of abstinence so strong that they don't even produce semen? You start tucking it in pretty tightly. Hear you have to sit in an asana for three hours before you master it? You push your knees into your back and try and hold out against the pain. Each step your body is screaming at you to stop, your mind is screaming at you to stop, but you're just doing what you're told! You rebel against society. decide you aren't going to do what you're told, and you do that by.... doing.... what.... you're told..... As a side note, I think yoga is a great system. But like anything else, it has to be done genuinely. Plenty of priests do not take role seriously, and wind up hurting others. That doesn't mean priests are bad, or that the priesthood itself is inherently bad (a group of highly educated spiritual leaders that go out and help others on the path sounds like a pretty darn good idea!). But anything done incorrectly is going to cause discomfort and pain.

Yes, good point! Sorry for making it seem otherwise

Speaking of buzz, the only time I've ever gotten a noticeable "buzz", "tingling sensation" "electricity" "hair standing on end" or whatever you want to call it from looking at a picture of someone was when I saw a picture of Max Christensen here on the bums. Honestly can't say I've gotten such a response from anyone else so........ I don't study Kunlun, but I do respect it as a system, it does have good points that I agree with, some things I don't, I have the book, it's a good book, and I wouldn't put it past myself to practice it sometime. Then again, I might not ever practice it. But I do have some respect for it. Just for anyone wondering.

I think that depends on the books A lot of seasoned spiritual seekers have a lot of good stuff out in print, especially for someone who reads carefully and between the lines. There's a lot more out there than people think.

Start from the top of your head, and relax. Think of clenching your fist, and slowly relaxing it so that you still have a fist, but it is totally relaxed, then opening your fingers wide. This is the feeling that you should try to have when relaxing various parts of your body. From the top of your head, slowly go down your body, finding areas that are tense, and relax them in this manner. At each time, relax until you don't think you can relax anymore. Basically, relax until you can't go any further by being relaxed. You might get to a point where you tense up if you try and relax anymore. When that happens, it's time to move on to the next area. Any bit that you can't relax, feel it sinking down to the next area down. When you get to the throat, treat it in the same way. Anything that you relax, relax it out as far as it can go- that can be right to your skin, or it may be a few inches out, or even further to the ends of your aura. And again, anything you can't relax, sink it down further to the next area where you will relax. Do this until you get to your feet, and sink everything out. This is a bare bones outline of B.K. Frantzis' outer dissolving process, he goes much more in depth in his book "Opening The Energy Gates of Your Body", but I've found it to be the best way to handle situations like this. Basically, just because you have a problem in one area, it might be caused by something in another area. Relaxing something above or below might cause the energy in your problem area to start shifting around. Basically, the entire body is a system where everything affects everything else- you can't always just treat a problem in isolation, and a problem in one area might not be because of that area at all. Also, what Scotty said is good advice too. Getting some physical exercise helps the body move energy to other places for other routines- changing it up helps the body stay healthy. And yeah, sometimes trying to move energy can make it worse. I suggest relaxing and taking care of the whole system, and usually the energy will work itself out. The body wants to stay in balance and return to balance if you let it.

I mean I enjoy my practice too, I think you should enjoy your practice and I think that's one of the ways to keep interest. But let me put it this way, at my university we have a meditation club, and one of my friends showed up one day, and we do an hour of sitting meditation, and my friend sat there for 10 minutes, then sat there looking around the room. It was boring. Same with with zhan zhuang. After you stand there for a while, if you aren't particularly motivated, don't particularly enjoy it, or aren't really clear on why you are doing what you're doing, then it's just not going to work for you. And it's not like it's really glamorous. It's not like there's really much to talk about, especially on a discussion forum. Most questions you have about the practice get resolved by doing the practice. And the practice is simple and straightforward. Sure, at higher levels you can realize deeper and deeper complexities as the secrets of the universe are revealed to you.... but at the end of the day, you're just standing there

People don't talk about it because it's boring. "Hey, how can I up my practice?" "Do some Zhan Zhuang." "Okay..... anything else?" "Nope." *stands for 20 minutes* "All right, now what do I do?" "Do some more zhan zhuang." "Um.... okay.... Hey, do I need to focus on powering up like a super saiyan?" "Nope." "Oh, do I imagine that I can fly or walk on water?" "Nope." "Oh......" Hard work is boring and unglamorous.