9th

You are entirely clueless.

Actually I am trying to cryptically say you are not ready. I am saying there is a proper time and place for all things. The teachings you are searching for regarding the matter of refining chi into shen are derived at a personal level in tandem with the harmony of internal and external. You can read a million books about such things and it will be entirely meaningless unless you have the ripened fruit. The ripened fruit beckons the further nourishment it can provide. Seeking for it in the "ordinary" way will serve no purpose, as it cannot be sought, only found. Once you understand that, you will understand why it must be that way.

walking on the heads of garbage dwelling rodents, crushing toe cheese between hangnail alley cats and cat house spinnerets, funky bass line popping booty stop drop and rolling in a deadly kung fu disco party, moves called as performed, i.e. "donkey punch!" and so forth purple bruises and throbbing veins begging to be lanced, teenyboppers hanging posters for fancy lancelots riding three toed sloths clashing with mighty ocelot legions scattering hamster wheels to the wind splashing slogans from infested chemical air wave pollution, microscopic dust devas, peeking and winking begging a great seer for another hot spanking another double penetration, double geyser overload flipped up, laid down and cold, got to be, baby electromagnet flow spreads endless pleasure princess

It may be more productive to plant crops in the springtime and harvest them in the fall, rather than the other way around. Or perhaps not? Ultimately it's your call, regardless of how much instruction, guidance, teachings, and related ephemera you have accumulated.

Actually I very much enjoy playtime... especially when the Masters of the Universe decide to join in

as im sure you already know, cultivation is not a spectator sport

Then why did you ask about refining energy to begin with? You already know how.

It would be of great help for you to learn how to mend the fabric of space-time, which would of course require it to be punctured, ripped, torn, worn through, or otherwise broken. Since there is no other way to make your offering to the way unless you access that opening, it is all kept in the family of practice.

Thanks for joining the party!

What is the taoist demand for immortality met with?

To glimpse the meadow before the storm, the gardener rose in the haze of that certain day. In the path and swirled around the feet, the dusty remnants of leaves were upon them as a canvas. Light broke through edges of mist and doused the banks of a crystalline brook. Motion laid down as if stasis were inert against itself. It grasped pebbles and silt in the all-encompassing embrace of dissolution, much like the inevitable results of photosynthesis. Time sidled against the weight of the earth in suspended animation, but fell like the tide with shadows cast over a stone dial. This was the hour before a gathering of clouds on the horizon. The broom flew across that eternally immaculate surface of transplantation in the midst of internment. Scattered breaths with stems of the fallen distressed were gathered together in the bundles of cupped hands, pressed together as if held aloft. Prayers of tiger claws spiraling up bamboo poles while jade swans cradled diamond palaces between wings of fire. This was the way of the wind and dew which caressed the green grass upon every golden dawn. It was brought forth from above, in the weight of the sun which dappled the rain. Every drop refracted and reflected mandalas as memories of moonlight. That alignment was forged in the origin, before the ancients drew breath. It was given to the multitude and bestowed for revolutions. As the globe would spin to shed the skin of growth, the gardener would greet such bounty with open arms. In the era of elevation under designation, it brought such fallen facets forth like the jewel of a namesake. The heritage of dynamics yearned for expression. Lightning flashed as the twilight of brightness approached. It was as if a call being answered would cross any boundary. All possible worlds would heave with the thunderous exaltation of shuffled correspondence. The end was reflected in the beginning, and served its accorded purpose as the shore where waves would crash. So it was, with the atmosphere pierced by winking stars. The tune of a breeze through the underbrush was heard in the forest, and applauded by the stones. Some were set in circles to measure the number of hands it took to hew them in place. Others were lost among the rubble, awaiting the time of discovery, and the time of adventures on the high seas. Colors dancing in the sky held promise for the people. The gardener recalled their wishes as such epic strategy unfolded in the humming atoms scattered beyond. It was a gaze which held the place for things to be placed, a dance as the summation of steps accorded. A view of nature smiling. Water flowed uphill, and the leaves were again waving from the branches.

Videogames are great fun, and I enjoy them as well. Longtime PC gamer here. I've got a PS3 but almost never use it. God of War 3 was quite the spectacle though. edit: for the buddhist gamers out there:

the mellow that can be harshed is not the true mellow

fixed, according to your wishes o master

Textual elucidations of non-ordinary reality by way of mythos and metaphysics is like candy for the mind. I would advise you not to build your entire diet from it. Accordingly, it's probably best used as a rare treat.. depending on your particular constitution.

http://www.universal-tao.com/article/immortals.html

Forever is no-time. Cultivation of the rainbow body is indeed, pretty awesome.

Of course it depends on your definition of what exactly an "immortal" is. Physical "immortals" are never found by people, rather it is the other way around. This earth we live on is not the only world in existence, and that isn't even taking into account the variable materiality of mass and energy - or our limited conception of what is "physical" to begin with. Buddhism has other classifications of "immortals" as well, in terms of reincarnation: Stream-enterer The first stage is that of Sotāpanna (Pali; Sanskrit: Srotāpanna), literally meaning "one who enters (āpadyate) the stream (sotas)," with the stream being the supermundane Noble Eightfold Path regarded as the highest Dharma. The stream-enterer is also said to have "opened the eye of the Dharma" (dhammacakkhu, Sanskrit: dharmacakṣus). A stream-enterer reaches arahantship within seven rebirths upon opening the eye of the Dharma. Due to the fact that the stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, "right view") and has complete confidence or Saddha in the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, that individual will not be reborn in any plane lower than the human (animal, preta, or in hell). Once-returner The second stage is that of the Sakadāgāmī (Sanskrit: Sakṛdāgāmin), literally meaning "one who once (sakṛt) comes (āgacchati)". The once-returner will at most return to the human world one more time. Both the stream-enterer and the once-returner have abandoned the first three fetters. The stream-enterer and once-returner are distinguished by the fact that the once-returner has weakened lust, hate, and delusion to a greater degree. The once-returner therefore has fewer than seven rebirths. They may take place in higher planes but will include rebirth in the human world at most only once more. Once-returners do not have only one more rebirth, as the name suggests, for that may not even be said with certainty about the non-returner who can take multiple rebirths in the five "Pure Abodes". Non-returner The third stage is that of the Anāgāmī (Sanskrit: Anāgāmin), literally meaning "one who does not (an-) come (āgacchati)". The non-returner, having overcome sensuality, does not return to human world, or any unfortunate world lower than that after death. Instead, non-returners are reborn in one of the five special worlds in Rūpadhātu called the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, or "Pure Abodes", and there attain Nirvāṇa; Pāli: Nibbana; some of them are reborn a second time in a higher world of the Pure Abodes. An Anāgāmī has abandoned the five lower fetters, out of ten total fetters, that bind beings to the cycle of rebirth. An Anāgāmī is well advanced and close to complete liberation. Arahant The fourth stage is that of Arahant, a fully liberated being who has abandoned all ten fetters and who, upon (Sanskrit: Parinirvāṇa, Pāli: Parinibbāna) will never be reborn in any plane or world, having wholly escaped saṃsāra.

A certain carpenter Shih was travelling to the Ch'i State. On reaching Shady Circle, he saw a sacred li tree in the temple to the God of Earth. It was so large that its shade could cover a herd of several thousand cattle. It was a hundred spans in girth, towering up eighty feet over the hilltop, before it branched out. A dozen boats could be cut out of it. Crowds stood gazing at it, but the carpenter took no notice, and went on his way without even casting a look behind. His apprentice however took a good look at it, and when he caught up with his master, said, "Ever since I have handled an adze in your service, I have never seen such a splendid piece of timber. How was it that you, Master, did not care to stop and look at it?" "Forget about it. It's not worth talking about," replied his master. "It's good for nothing. Made into a boat, it would sink; into a coffin, it would rot; into furniture, it would break easily; into a door, it would sweat; into a pillar, it would be worm-eaten. It is wood of no quality, and of no use. That is why it has attained its present age." When the carpenter reached home, he dreamt that the spirit of the tree appeared to him in his sleep and spoke to him as follows: "What is it you intend to compare me with? Is it with fine-grained wood? Look at the cherry-apple, the pear, the orange, the pumelo, and other fruit bearers? As soon as their fruit ripens they are stripped and treated with indignity. The great boughs are snapped off, the small ones scattered abroad. Thus do these trees by their own value injure their own lives. They cannot fulfil their allotted span of years, but perish prematurely because they destroy themselves for the (admiration of) the world. Thus it is with all things. Moreover, I tried for a long period to be useless. Many times I was in danger of being cut down, but at length I have succeeded, and so have become exceedingly useful to myself. Had I indeed been of use, I should not be able to grow to this height. Moreover, you and I are both created things. Have done then with this criticism of each other. Is a good-for-nothing fellow in imminent danger of death a fit person to talk of a good-for-nothing tree?"

I see your sadness like birds in the air... I see them all flying away.. - David Byrne