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The Chinese translation for kidneys is "San or Shen". When someone is full with vitality the Chinese would say such a person is "Jing San", which could also be used to describe how a person feels after a good rest or sleep, or after a nice vacation, or a general state of feeling rejuvenated. When I was a teenager, about 18 or 19 I'd say, i went with a few friends to visit a famous Chinese fortune teller, just for the fun of it. When it was my turn to sit in front of him, he gave me a nice reading, and towards the end, he said to me, "Young man, let uncle here give you some advice: No Jing(semen) no San!" After that, i kinda woke up to the awareness that if i needed to stay fit and healthy, i have to treasure my *Oats*.. I am not a Daoist practitioner, but from this little run-in with the fortune teller, it does appear there is a looped connection between kidney health, semen bounty, and rejuvenation. Your post reminded me of this encounter with 'uncle', so i thought it might be a good place to share the tale. (Btw, Uncle, or Tsok-tsok in Cantonese, is the affectionate and respectful term the younger Chinese use to greet the older menfolk). All the best!

"We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." - T. S. Elliot Just want to share a little passage here that i think is quite relevant to this topic. Its taken from Alistair Shearer's translation of the "Yoga Sutras" : "The quest for the Self has enthralled mankind since the dawning of desire. Ancient myths of every culture tell the same story of our search for wholeness. As the mind explores its own depths, it uncovers archetypal images that sustain and guide the journey inward. These are the signposts on the old road home, half-remembered from long ago. Each society hands down its stories of the great heroes who have made the journey before us as reminders and examples to those who follow. In Mesopotamia, the king of Erech, Gilgamesh, leaves his city and sets forth to find the plant of immortality 'Never Grow Old' that sprouts at the bottom of the Cosmic Sea. In ancient Greece, the nobly born Odysseus seeks his island home of Ithaca, while Jason sets sail on the search for the Golden Fleece. And in the very different setting of Arthurian England, the Knights of the Round Table ride out on that most sacred of missions, the quest for the Holy Grail. Though the details of the myths differ with time and place, their pattern is the same. First comes the initial challenge, the call to a fuller life, the promise of a new state of Being. If the hero has the courage to accept the challenge, with all its awesome implications of metamorphosis, he embarks on the crossing of the initiatory threshold that marks the beginning of the journey. This death and rebirth will have to be repeated many times before the quest is accomplished, for there are trials and dangers to be encountered along the way, and every transformation suffered is a dying to the old and a resurrection into the new. Such traveling requires fortitude and perseverance. The decisions to be taken are not easy -- the unwary are soon tranquilized by triviality, the songs of the sirens is alluring, and for every Galahad there are countless Launcelots. But the deserving seekers are sustained by unseen help, those hidden agencies of fairy tale and legend. For the dedicated there will in time come the final achievement: the apotheosis. Now the traveler can return, transfigured, to live as an example and inspiration to all those yet to complete the quest. These returned heroes are the great teachers, the seers, saints and prophets, the spiritual leaders of mankind. Complete in themselves and reintegrated with the cosmos of which they are now a conscious instrument, they have reached the goal of yoga."

Tom Jones' 'Without Love'.. "I have conquered the world, but without love, i have nothing, nothing at all.."

Hey Ryan, thanks for the love bro! Its rare to hear expressions of unconditional love on forums, so you have set some kinda positive precedence, i think.. and its simply wonderful! I feel the vibe.. On a personal note, reading this has reminded me its been a while since i did the rounds visiting some of the retirement homes just to sit and chat with some of the folks who dont get many visits from their family members, or so-called 'loved ones'! So i'm grateful for this little nudge. For me, there are 3 qualities needed to nurture Unconditional Love. These are Acceptance, Gratitude, and Involvement - together they provide a most solid foundation for some of the other aspects of love to grow upon, IMHO. This is a beautiful topic, one which is quite timely i'd say. Big hug!

Stand in line for soup. Please, sir, may I have some more? Only five guineas!

There are literally thousands (maybe more?) of sadhus lined up along the banks of the Ganges, who spend their whole lives in full-lotus. Maybe a handful of these are "realized" - the rest, like you and I. Those who are enthralled by physical forms get all excited when they see these so-called holy men. If only they were less naive. External forms without the mastery of the mind cannot bring one 'to the other shore'. GIH's observations are spot-on. If you want to FL, lotus your mind first. Mind-posture is anytime more vital than body posture. When the lotus blooms in the Mind, one loses attachment to the physical. Thats all.

Absolutely agree with the above. Also, in the old days, the masters withheld secrets, in addition to GIH's point no.4, in the event the student(s) are captured and tortured, they would not be able to reveal to the 'enemy' what they do not know. And physical torture was not the only means used in attempts to extract secrets - prevalent at that time were beings with supernatural abilities and magic, black or white, mind-reading, mind-control, dim-mak and hypnosis -- as long as the students do not possess the secrets, no matter what means are employed, the secrets stayed safe. However, the masters would usually reveal the most potent secrets to the one most filial student, not necessarily the most senior though, just before they pass away. If there was no such affinity felt with any of the students, the secrets go to the graves with the masters.

Hi UTI, You sound very inspired by your practice, and have approached it with much attention to detail, which is always good. It shows a high degree of being centered and grounded. So well done there! I am interested to know if you have any altruistic aspirations tied in to this practice. Like do you do this solely for personal improvement and cultivation, or do you have any Sattvika inclinations? Just curious. All the best!

Great advice 5ET. The key word is purification, not phantasmic experimentation, which could be very very hard to undo. Responsible Tibetan teachers always lovingly warn students that the practice of esoterica should not be adopted haphazardly, for once committed, its like a snake being put into a bamboo pipe - be difficult to reverse the decisions and actions. In the East, its hard-pressed to hear of anyone mixing traditions and practices. Its better to keep one's practice as pure as possible, for very obvious reasons, some of which you have clearly highlighted above.

saint's soup satisfies As Jesus puts on the crown the jester awaits..

Sound and practical advice. Dont know about others, but i will def bear this in mind. Thanks for the nudge.

Ah! Indeed the whole point is to simply awaken! Excellent point btw. In this very moment -- now, now, now, X inifinity. Lose the Now, and the equilibrium starts to vibrate, and the stillness goes, ever so slowly, either contracting back to the past, or expanding out to the future, both states in which most of those who seek meaning spend their entire lives in. When mindfulness is cultivated, one becomes more aware and attuned to seeing when this *pendulum of Nowness* begins to sway, so with the cultivation of means, have the know-how to then bring it back into stillness, or focus. IMO, mindfulness training precedes cultivating 'external' methods. I think most people do it the other way.. trying all sorts of things with the eventual aim of pacifying the Mind, or some do the two simultaneously, both of which may work, but i feel it requires that much more effort. When the Mind is stabilized first and foremost in mindful attention, every endeavor can then be seen with clarity, without the usual overlays and all that jazzy stuff.

Hahaha.. i am afraid when no one's looking, you ARE invisible!

Yes, i believe this is the only way to experience 'renewal' in each moment - by discarding the habitual need to meaning-fy every aspect of one's Being. Waste of energy. The Now is neither meaningFull or meaningLess. It just is.. All the best.

Jump right in with all your heart and soul Mestena.. Hesitation is the 'thief' that 'steals' spontaneity. Age cannot, and should never be a factor - how could it be? I mean, we are talking about romance and love right? These are imponderable affairs of the heart, beyond analysis, and definitely beyond something so silly as 'oh! and btw, there is this age gap..' thingy. Before i clicked on this thread, i had a strange feeling it would be one that i could totally relate to, and it was spot-on.. my girlfriend is 22 and i am 49! So there you go girl! Make it happen!! We have been together 2 years, and its still like we met only yesterday! I know it sounds pretty cliched, but if two people can look at one another each morning with 'new' eyes, like, "Hey stranger..", (another cliche: Each dawn IS a new day right?) then everything's gonna be exciting and fresh. Even the mundane takes on a new shine of mundane-ness, if you know what i mean.. Its gonna be all good Mestena. Your sense of wonder will make him laugh and cry with joy, and he will begin to feel like he is 20 again, and before you know it, he will start to think, feel and act younger. Nothing to worry about. Really. For me, the key to a strong and lasting relationship is acceptance and gratitude. Acceptance towards the other's individuality and all the little bits attached to it that at first we are not used to, and gratitude for all the little bits that we simply adore, and cant get enough of. That's the secret, imho. Remember - Greet each day with the eyes of a child.. All the best.

A soup for a saint. Don't forget the spoon darling! Poor homeless doggies..

do, and let it go do not, and IT gets too tight.. Middle way is best!

ego satisfied.. aimlessly, wonders the soul when is the next fix?

Taomeow.. this post is not a 'knife', or even a 'spoon' - its a 'scalpel'! Excellent!

covering the mind layers of chocolate sauce red cherry on top..

@That Guy.. 2 things buddy. One, your post is all over the place. If you want to be arrogantly critical, do so by all means, but at least do it with a bit of precision and finesse. Two, have you nothing better to contribute to this forum other than going around as though you were a school disciplinarian or something? And an abusive one, at that.. rather tedious, i'm afraid.

Well, after reading Blasto's, i'd say dump all the others!!

Ngondro is quite profound and complete in itself. Its a great practice imo. Anyway, thanks for the reply. I better not prolong this post since this is really not related to the topic at all. Cheers!

Hey Sam, Thought you might want to know -- the mantra above is not the Vajrasattva mantra. It is the mantra of Guru Padmasambhava. Its quite vital the 2 are not confused - not very helpful to chant one mantra while visualizing the other heh? Vajrasattva has 2 mantras - one short, the other, well, pretty long. The short one is *Om Vajrasattva Hum* or in Tibetan, its *Om Benza Sattva Hung*. Mantras are generally recited with vizualizations to enhance their effects for purification, but it does take more than recitations of mantras to realize the interdependence of all things. If you are seriously considering mantra practice, i would suggest obtaining info (and learning from) more reliable sources, like respective authentic teachers (who should not be asking for money btw) who can then guide you safely and effectively. Once you have connected with a particular mantra practice, its best to stick with that one for a couple of years so that it gets into your stream of being in a stable way. When you begin to notice helpful changes happening around you as you gradually deepen the practice, you may then seek the appropriate empowerment from an authentic lineage holder if you so wish. Trust me, picking up mantras from YouTube to chant without prior understanding of the subtleties and implications of the chanting process may be a waste of time and energy, and if one is not grounded, may also open one up to potentially adverse results. This could well happen if the poster of the mantra is not a very sincere person, or may have been exposed to undesirable energies etc. These would have a subtle impact then on whoever picks up the posted clip. Afterall, mantras are primarily used for transformation of subtle energies, so i hope you get the point here. Must say tho that chances of this happening are pretty slim, but the risk's not really worth it. One of the things to bear in mind with mantra recitations is that they need to be 'opened' and 'closed' appropriately. Assuming you hook up with a teacher, i am sure you will then get a much clearer picture from him/her regarding this. IMO, this would be the most sensible way to go about your wish to get a better grounding with respect to mantras. Hope this helped.

Hi Sherab! ...and i guess you are new here, so welcome! May your participation bring much joy to others! Did you google your way into Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism by any chance? Just curious.. hmm.. All the best!