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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-YYqjhVi4

i think there is no definitive answer to this question, i dont think it is ment to be one. it is our perception of it. some perceptions are educated, some are innate. i really dont know there is no conceivable concept to justify the horrors of the miriad ways of suffering in this world it's a fact of life a mistery that each of us has to give a personal sense to it if the suffering has a meaning, it can make you stronger, this is our task to give it a meaning, for us if not, it is just a force that tears everything apart. such a strong force

clean yourself inside out, you will find out tons of info about that, there are miriads of methods, try the safest ones you can find, and then your body will teach you what you need to eat oh, cleaning methods that involve water and air are the best no more from me, good luck

it's fresh food and clean water that will do the job, forget about energy, at least until you recover. clean yourself inside out good luck

Now for health we have to work, and for wisdom we have to pray and deserve it. It's said that when we ask God for wisdom, he sents problems to us, because solving them makes us more wise. I often think that there are other people behind the masters of today, people of much more power and wisdom, that choose to remain in anonimity, and hire others to do their jobs and act as masters - it would only fit daoist philosophy. It seems that at least a couple of them died or dissapeared suddently without a trace, but in fact they can still be around

hi stig, my gut tells me the abstract cores are part of DJ's tradition, but maybe have a different name. the fact that theun mares adds some ideogram to them makes them even more attractive... for me. i heard there is a hidden journal of CC, some guy told me a couple of years ago he bought it at some 300$, i donno where he found it, but he told me there is some material that describes in full all the practices CC hints about in his books. heck, there is even the creation of the dantian (not with this name), with some breathing and focus meditations... i hope i could find it someday, im sure it wasnt just bogus L1

what does he say about the 21 abstract cores and their ideograms? i was always puzzled about them. how do they look, what do they mean. thanx again

hi Stig, ive been a Castaneda fan myself, i wonder if you read the books of marylin tunnenshende (i dont know if its spelled right), and if so, what is you oppinion on it thanx

daoist view: there is no "I", this is just a basic truth. we are an accumulation of experience and different impulses. that's it. and if we dont cultivate, we will this "federation" of impulses will dissolve after death, what we are called to do, is to find the true center, the hole at the center of the wheel, that can assemble a being able to live forever and have creative ability bigger than we can ever imagine the purpose of the universe is creation and perpetuation of awareness, as long as we align ourselves with this intent, we are immortal good luck L1

i really appreciate the nice exotic touch of the stories that are told here, but at least to me they remain mostly just stories. the people more susceptible to belive them are those that have not yet developed sufficient root in their own practice. dont get me wrong some of the details are really valuable, the setting is the problem... so you can basically pick up good things out of everything. this is one of the reason i feel i am somewhat gratefull to David and SeanD. their insistance that what i take for good might be wrong, forced me to re-test, re-evaluate, re-consider, re-trace, many of the things i took for granted in the past, concerning my own practice and understanding of it. guess what, every time i returned, more at peace, and more gratefull, to what i had, that is - Chia's system... it's my own experience, dont make much out of it. so, yes, it would be unfair to deny that their influence can be beneficial, if you know how to take it. i remember one discussion i had months ago on their forum, they asked me plain and simple, why do i stay there, if i am not utterly convinced of their story. i told them that if you have your view, and you find another view on the same subject, if the circumstances are right, a third view may arise. that is what happens. and of course i am in my turn curious of what they teach there in china and denmark for those lots of doll' not because i am dissatisfied with what i know, but because this inherent curiosity may help develop a bigger picture in the end... so, ready to serve, salt as needed one more thing, you are making a confusion when you imply that everyone interested in the daoist practices have the same mindset: the american way. no. period. L1

No, SJ, what i said is sometimes, some people read only what they want, mix it up in their heads, and think this is the truth. Besides the point, totally. So, yes, i agree with Cam, it IS funny. Sedentary? If you knew what a real HT / UTS training session consists of, you would know better than that. One more thing. There are other kinds of people around the world, besides chubby americans, i wonder if this makes sense to you. Like i said before, you keep your doubts too, i dont mean to take them away from you. If i posted some info, it was for the ones that already know these things work. Not to convince anyone else. Besides, this system is one of the safest, and within reach, for many of people around the world. All you need to do is pray and win "brownie points", so that you can meet a GOOD teacher so you can progress even safer, and get even better results, in every field of your life. I know it's possible, it is part of my experience with it also. The ones that are still afraid of safety issues, they could easily pull back and try something else... Is it so difficult to understand? My teacher tells me from time to time: If you have trust in what you are doing, and really want to progress, just keep up and do your practice everyday. If not, and you have too many doubts about this or that, you would be better off going out there and living you life as you please... have fun with your life, life is usually too short, so dont waste your time here if you dont belive in what you are doing Have fun, L1

Exactly, this is the most objective and impartial conclusion one could make. Hello, Pietro. I have nothing to prove, ok? I have let out a couple of thoughts about my research on it, and that's it. I'm glad that a couple of people found them useful, job done, end of story. Whatever unsettling questions and problems you have, you could ask Chia directly, he has email too. And about the doubts, you misunderstood me. What i wrote is "to keep your doubts", not to keep them to yourself. Express them, whenever, wherever. Because I dont mean to convince anyone. Have fun, L1 EDIT: Some of my other thoughts on the Sexual Kungfu Practice are on the "Retrograde Ejaculation" thread, i feel i shouldnt repeat them over here. Thank you.

Pietro, i know you have your doubts, many of them do. Please, just keep them. I by no means want to stand as a defender of Mantak Chia. What i stated is my personal experience and knowledge of the system, and that's it, take what you want from it, and discard what you feel it's inapropriate. There is a lot more you should know. I'm afraid it's already a little too late, i kinda let the cat out of the bag, but if i go on further, i will really have to keep up with all of you and offer many many explanations. I'm not interested, really, i plan to do other nice stuff in my spare time. It is not the way to go for everyone, and if there are people that are afraid of safety issues, they can just decide to pull back and try something else. Otherwise, I maintain what I said: the most popular taoist system is also one of the least understood. good luck L1

it's not logical to built a case on a 0,01 percentage but if you mean to, you can find reason even in that from my experience, my practice group's experience, and my teacher's experience: - yes, they are the safest methods - no, they are not absolutely safe, it depends on the medical and even psychollogical history of the person - which i suspect was a problem for the case mentioned above, also there are many other things we mentioned in other threads - the books and DVD are informative material only, and most of them specify that from the beginning; they are offered for people to make an oppinion. Mantak Chia's oppinion on the DVD's, CD's, books, tapes and booklets was summarized at one of the workshops: "You can have all of them, but without receiving the transmission, not much will happen". The fact is, he has built his system to be FIRSTLY the safest possible, this was and is the first goal. Putting the worst case in some sort of funny way (it reffers to no one, just to make an idea): - is it safe for an idiot to ride a good bike? - it depends on the idiot. If the idiot runs straight in the middle of the street, or runs into a tree, or whatnot... MAYBE it is not the fault of the bike. good luck L1 PS: Bottom line is, dont rely ONLY on informative DVD's and Books, if you want to practice

im not the expert here i can shed some light on some of the questions though, not too much, just enough to make you want to keep searching, if this is ok with you, that's the only game i can play. yes, there is a secret for everything that is taught. every little practice that endured for millenia, although it may seem simple at the first glance, it hides behind a lot of study and work. practically, in order to make it function within yourself, you have to kind of re-trace it to it's beginnings, to really know what you are doing. no, they were not designed especiallly for the ones that had many wives, although this has been stated and reported. it was designed to return one to the state of fullness that we once had, and to keep a sacred attitude towards the treasure of the life force. the road of the Tao, it is said, is going back, to the state of an infant. eventually you get there. two issues here: jing is not sperm, and the second, sexual practices dont work with just the sexual jing. they work with a larger variety, i belive someone posted sometime ago a good reference about what types of jing exists. this is another really interesting subject worth the search. most important, Lin Aiwei put some nice thought about methods and mindset. If the mindset is not right, no matter how good the practice is, you will get trouble. It's that simple. Up until now, from what i shared, it is only not even 2% of the logistics and strategy of the practice, i am only at the beginning. Because, yes, without logistics and strategy we are... well, blind. You cannot go ahead and put the practices together as you want to. Most of the people that get trouble, is because they practice sometimes perfectly safe methods, but they dont know HOW to do it, what is the CONTEXT. I wrote some things about the prerequisites, even they, the basics of the basics, have other prerequisites you have to built on. This is why it takes so long, 10-15-20 years. The alchemy practice is practically building one brick on another. The stronger the foundation you have, the higher you can go. So now, this is basically what i'm in right now. Even if there are people around that are very pleased with blisfull sensations and kundalini awakenings and whatnot... this time i know, if i want to go on, i need to really know what i am doing. in response to minkus's question, you will find that practice in the book mantak wrote together with william wei. L1 EDIT: you have Procurator to thank for this, he started it

it has been a while since i decided to stop any posting regarding sexual practices, mainly because people keep understanding only what they want i will try to give it another go, in respect to Procurator's kind advice offered here - books only come to complete and sustain what you learned with a GOOD instructor. if on their own, the books should be taken only as "Did you know this stuff exists?" And not because they are bad, but because people are not ready. There are many sets of prerequisite to master before engaging in sexual cultivation practice. They are well advised from many of the introduction notes, but that is usually the part that most of us skip when reading. After they blown it, they come out complaining: "This is not good, that is pop-daoism, this is dangerous etc etc" Prerequisites: Inner Smile, Six Healing Sounds, Opening the Microcosmic Orbit, Iron Shirt 1. These will take up to 10-15 years to REALLY learn and master. But... who is commited to that amount of practice these days? Specially if they're not called Level One, Level Upteen... Point to remember: If you didnt master the prerequisites necesary for this kind of training, dont do it. - the muscles of the pelvic floor need as much training as any other muscle in the body, but we usually neglect it. it doesnt have to do with any sexual practice. it's just naturaly healthy to tone those muscles too. Point to remember: PC muscle training requires both exercise and relaxation, with moderation; done this way, it should only bring out benefits. - why is it that all the people talk about is only the Big Draw and the Finger Lock? There are other sexual special exercises to master BEFORE you go into that. Like: Testicle Breathing (important! it cools down the system if you are working with awakened sexual energy), Secret Urination Technique (important!, especially for those that play around with the Three Finger Lock) Scrotal Compression (important! an important decisive step before even thinking of going for the Big Draw) Testicle Massage (together with Testicle Breathing, really important!) The Big Draw - it has to be mastered first in solo practice, and it takes many years. These exercises alone should keep a student busy at least a good 10 years. Of course, together with the practices of refining the energy, first for health, then for restoring the lost jing, and qi, then for enpowerment. One needs to be at least 10-12 times the average man/woman, in resources, if he wants to go ahead with transforming the material into imaterial. Otherwise you play a dangerous game with your health. Mastering the first set of prerequisite, and the sexual practice, would make advancing in the higher practice like a piece of cake. The really important practice is the basics. The human mind has other plans, and it wants to go as fast as a bullet. And bullets they go. Then, they find other practices, which only teach the basics of the basics. That is, to relax, enjoy, let go. And guess what, they start to get it. They feel the energy, they feel good. What do you think would be their logical conclusion? "Oh, I was wrong to be in such a hurry, look how things grow when you have the proper attitude" ??? Noo... They go more like: "Oh, that then was pop daoism, yikady-smakady..., this here is the Real Daoism" Like i said (shrug): Whatever, people, do as you please I like to post this in response to many of the questions that have been adressed on this subject. I hope at least one or two out there would get the message. L1

@SJ, there are a lot of people out there that think they know what is Chia all about, but it just their own private and particular ideas of it. Now, with all due respect, you are not an exception. Like i said before, even if it is the most popular taoist system around, it is the least understood. Even by high level instructors. There are fiew of them that even begun to dig inside the immensity of the Nine Alchemical Formulas. I used to be really pissed at people that throw garbage at what they cannot understand. But I saw that Chia himself is often a direct target, yet he doesnt mind, and takes this as normal. So, therefore I'm not here to put up someone, so try and take this friendly. @TM, in writing i can go as dirty as the unoficial taoist saying: "Oh snap!" and "Knock yourselves out!" From what i remember, taoists were really some kind of explorers of reality. Whatever concepts and methods they worked with, were only some kind of mnemotechnical tools. Compared to other systems of training and philosophy, they didnt hold tradition and scholars in higher esteem than the everchanging Book of Nature. The dead words of the scriptures werent a priority for them, but mainly to aquire enough understanding of what was happening now, in real-time life and action. You could extract from there tons of philosophy and practice. They werent bonded to old and dusty chronicles. They were the fresh guys, that denied all traditional accepted wisdom, no wonder Chan their later creation. Now, just for the record, visualisation is only a small part of what Chia teaches. Really small. What is the rest? I had a really hard time trying to figure that out, and I'm not yet ready to share it with you. I can only tell, most of the criticisers never went beyound the superficial layer. L1

ok so i have to rectify i dont feel a particular i exists by itself. it is a mixt/up conglomerate that we call i for me, the i appears and is sustained by work. it is when you align all your tendencies into one single force it is also gurdjieff's view

If he/she is a true taoist master, you wont recognize them Mainly because our head is filled with a wish-list of "shoulds and woulds". Otherwise, because they indeed hide their light.

i never felt a "I" inside me, or outside me, since i was a child this is why the question seems ridiculous... who am I? what I? show me your I !!!

if people would be kind enough to study a little basic psychology, they will find out that not everybody perceives and describes the world in the same way - a lot of us are VISUAL types - another lot of us are TACTILE types - another lot are AUDITIVE or sound-oriented - there are also OLFACTIVE-oriented - there are also types that TASTE the world for each basic type there are methods that suits them. NOW, IF I EVER READ MORE CR..P LIKE THIS ABOVE, I WILL START TO USE VERY DIRTY LANGUAGE

that's a SCORE if i ever saw one

it's the same as what harry said about injecting experince thru initiation. some say david did that too, when he came to our country and visited some orthodox monk... an injection of faith...

neat, cat

faith is what makes you do a good job. it's trust in yourself, mainly. you could say it's trust in others or something else, but basically it's just you. hope is faith's death, is when you hope something else will save you. and hope is also the beginning of doubt, you dont really know if you can be saved or not. doubt is what makes you do a lousy job, whatever you do until doubt is cleared out, you'd better just stay put and just quiet down these are really just basic prerequisites of the training i've learned on my path, i wonder why nobody talks about this EDIT: trust is when you and your work is aligned with nature's way, and you are sustained from within by it