Phoenix

This is a question for the ladies. Has anyone tried Mantak Chia's egg work? I'm finding myself a bit confused by the instructions. I'm also not convinced that advanced muscle control is necessary for energy work (though muscle *strength* may be a different matter). If anyone has experience with this, I'd appreciate your comments and advice.

Very nicely said. This is a totally awesome thread. Witch, do you suppose algal DHA supplements could be substituted for fish oil in your diet? I'm a veggie and am already taking a bit of the algal stuff, but to match your recommendations, I'd need to take a lot more.

Just FYI, vitamin D intake recommendations have historically been on the low side. Here are some newer recommendations: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml

Theoretically yes. However, while it's easy to say "I don't care that people are watching," it is actually quite an advanced thing to genuinely mean it. Once you have that degree of freedom, you won't need your mudra anymore. :-)

I'm not sure if you're referring to the same video I am. It's been a few years since I saw it and I don't have a copy. I do remember that the subject of the one I saw said something like that, but it makes no sense to say "but don't try this" in the same breath. If he simply wants to preserve the technique for future generations of practitioners, he can make a video and store it on a shelf somewhere; he doesn't need to release it publicly.

Visualization was very difficult for me at first. For energy cultivation, I'd say attentiveness is more important, though. I tend to prefer a tactile awareness to a visual one, but without very close attention, neither is very useful. All three of the things you mention go hand in hand, though. Cultivate one and you're automatically cultivating the others.

Traditions that keep practices secret have several very important reasons for doing so. The first is to keep the practices themselves pure and uncorrupted. The more people start doing a practice casually, the more it loses its gravitas. Our perception of it changes; we no longer consider it all that profound, and therefore, when we practice it, we don't benefit from it as much. Sometimes, practices are also kept secret in order to keep people who might do them under less than adequate circumstances from hurting themselves. Finally, though, and I think this is the reason that applies to your case, spiritual practices are supposed to erode the ego. When someone watches you doing a practice, it becomes a performance in the sense that you become self-conscious, aware that you're being watched. That's the opposite of what the practice is supposed to achieve. The more self-conscious you are, the stronger your ego becomes. I've seen a video of a Tibetan lama doing yoga exercises that for centuries were shown to no one except initiates. He gives a little schpiel about how you shouldn't try this at home, and then records all of it. If people shouldn't try it on their own, why is he recording it for public distribution? Unfortunately, it seems that he's given in to his ego; he thinks he knows something special and will be regarded as a more interesting specimen because of it. Someone I know has a name for this sort of thing; she calls it "dharma exhibitionism." It's the opposite of spirituality. So what I would advise in your case is that if someone noticing your mudra makes you self-conscious, by all means don't display it in public.

Just to clarify -- I was responding to your first post above. I think this one went up while I was responding to the other one. This may have been an astral travel experience, but I'm far out of my ken here. But don't worry, others will respond in time. For now, try to relax and know I'm sending you the best vibes I can.

It sounds to me like your practice has cleared a blockage in your own body. I think it's more likely that you were seeing a projection of what was happening in yourself rather than something going on in your teacher. I wouldn't be surprised if your "lazy eye" has already improved or improves over the next few days or weeks. In general, energy practice can create some odd and intense experiences. The single best thing to do is to relax, not just while the weird stuff is happening, but as much as possible in your daily life. And while you practice, you should be as deeply relaxed as possible. Energy techniques in the tradition I practice have been taught in a retreat setting over the centuries in order to create a relaxed, safe space where everyone knows weird stuff might happen and won't judge you insane when it does. Feel free to use this site as a support network where you can air your concerns; that may help with the weirdness. I'm not a Kunlun practitioner, and I'll be interested to hear what those who are have to say about your experience. I'd also be interested in hearing how people generally deal with integrating these weird experiences into their daily lives. Finally, I don't know where you learned Kunlun. If you learned it from a teacher, now would be a good time to go back to that individual and ask him or her about what is happening to you. If you don't have a teacher, I'd highly recommend finding one.

Dietary changes may help. Try cutting out dairy and taking fish oil or algal oil in medium high dosages. A vitamin D supplement might also help, especially if you don't get enough sun. You might also test different foods to see if anything exacerbates your condition, and if it does, remove it from your diet or cut way back.

Gosh... All I can say is that this is something that really, really should be learned from a teacher with proper lineage transmission, after completing the required prerequisites. There are several reasons for this. Most obviously, if you don't have a teacher, you might not learn the techniques properly, and (1) they might not work at all (which is no big deal), or (2) you might create physical/emotional/mental difficulties for yourself. This is powerful stuff. Even if you do have a teacher, and even if you do perform the techniques properly, you can still create physical/emotional/mental difficulties for yourself. But at least if you have a teacher, you can work out the problems with the teacher, rather than landing yourself in an institution. As with all practices, people respond differently to the Six Yogas. Some people see virtually no effect from a reasonable amount of concerted practice; others see more fireworks than they can handle very early on. Real disasters are rare, but they do happen. I have a friend who nearly did get himself institutionalized. Most importantly, though, the Six Yogas are one of the most revered paths in Tibetan Buddhism. Coming to this material without a deep reverence for it robs it of its spiritual power, not just for ourselves, but for future practitioners as well. By "deep reverence," I mean a willingness to engage with the Six Yogas the way a living master prescribes. The commentaries may read like engineering manuals, but this is a path in which technique, though important, is secondary to devotion.

How about people who laugh or chuckle with almost every sentence?

I've been experiencing an odd effect recently that I'd love some advice about. Anytime I read news stories that involve people treating each other less than lovingly, I get an odd sensation about two inches to the right of my heart center. It's as if there is a spot there that's too open and there is a leak. It is not at all a pleasant sensation and feels very unbalanced, and unfortunately it often lasts for a couple of days at a time. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Besides not reading the news, is there anything I can do to counter this? Thanks in advance.

I haven't seen this particular technique done. Is the advice to exhale completely ONCE before a breathing set, or before EVERY breath? How forceful is the exhale? I practice a form of Tibetan yogic breathing that includes a very forceful full exhale, and I'd like to add a word of caution for the original poster. Too many complete exhales, especially at first, will make you feel pretty hungover. Limit it to three per day for the first few days, then *slowly* work your way up if fully exhaling becomes part of your practice. One other thing... It's really best to learn physical techniques from a teacher. Even something that sounds simple, like the instruction to "exhale completely," can mean different things in different traditions, and requires a visual transmission plus correction from the teacher to be effective.

I read your choledocholithiasis cure. Very cool. :-) I'm not sure if it makes a difference from a TCM perspective, but teeth are not technically bone, at least not developmentally. Dentin, though a very similar substance to bone, actually develops from ectoderm -- like skin, hair, and nails. Bone develops from mesoderm.

I *think* this is my own reaction. I don't have a sense of a foreign energy in my space. Perhaps there is an old injury of some sort causing my throat to block off, but it feels like that really is the problem. When that's open, I can feel energy moving up over my jaw to the outside of my face, just to the side of my ear. (The same thing happens on the left but it's more subtle.) Simultaneously the weird sensation to the right of the heart center goes away. I'll pay attention, though, thanks.

I don't know this one, but I just read that it opens the throat. I'll give it a try, thanks.

I think I figured it out. My right channel seems to be opening (so is the left, but it's lagging behind). Reading about cruelty in the news seems to cause my throat to tighten and close up, so whatever energy is coming up the right channel at that point is blocked and streams out at the heart level. Thanks, everyone, for your advice.

Sloppy Zhang, I just now saw the rest of your post -- not sure how I overlooked that before, sorry about that! I agree that we live in a rather non-feeling society. I'm afraid that's not my issue; it's rather quite the opposite. I'm basically a compassionate person; I've cried myself quite raw over others' suffering on many occasions. But what's happening to me at the moment is weird and different. It's not compassion, it's revulsion. I think...

Sloppy Zhang, I know you're responding to zOOse, but I'm curious what you would advise me to do. I've tried what you suggest, "facing it down," but it's been getting more pronounced and considerably worse. A bad headline will now set off this weird imbalance. In other words, in trying to face it, I'm unintentionally creating a habitual response. I'm all for facing as much as we can, but I think it's counterproductive to take on too much at a time. In my situation at the moment I think it's wise to cut out news stories involving things like rape and torture and abduction, at least for a while, until I can figure out what's making my body do this weird thing. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Nicely said. We all need to do our own investigating, which basically means digging through layer after layer of our garbage heap of conceptuality until we have cleared away all of it and done the final dusting. Then we won't have to take anybody else's word for it anymore.

Thanks, zOOse. I've spent plenty of time in retreat (several years, actually) during which I didn't read the news. Now I am attempting to "live in the world" and nevertheless keep up some sort of practice. But I think you're right. Living in the world doesn't necessarily mean reading the news, or at any rate, not all of it. The funny thing about this sensation is that it doesn't feel like tension. It feels like the opposite, like a spot that's way too open. But it occurred to me last night that maybe I'm tensing up *somewhere else,* and that's causing this weird imbalance. I'll experiment with that. Thanks again for your reply.

Yes. But to discover it, you need to stop thinking. You cannot grasp it with the senses or with conceptual mind. Concepts are limits. What you seek isn't located anywhere or anywhen. Space and time do not apply, just as other concepts of color, shape, form, etc. do not apply. What you seek you can discover by stopping conceptual thought, and unfortunately by no other method. If you really want to find it, meditate. In the meantime, try reading the Heart Sutra. It's very helpful for precisely this topic.

Kaliyuga's post above is excellent advice. Here is an additional meditation instruction. Sit in your preferred meditation posture. Allow the negative thoughts and emotions to come up as they will, and instead of following them, just look at them. Look INTO them. Relax. Try to see their essence. To a non-clinging mind, the essence of "good" thoughts is no different from the essence of "bad" thoughts. Hence, there is no reason to accept "good" thoughts and reject "bad" thoughts during meditation. If you can catch the essence of an angry thought, it will appear as a beautiful, spacious energy. Even if you cannot change your perception in this way, this meditation will eventually quiet your negative emotions. The first 15-30 minutes may be difficult, because you'll essentially be alone with your negative emotions, without any distractions. Stick with it, it's worth it. Just to be clear, though: while you are not meditating, it is most important to maintain a positive attitude as free from anger as possible. Someone else mentioned the Seven Points of Mind Training. This is an excellent system for working with your mind during times when you are not sitting a formal meditation session.

I can't tell from your post how long you've been practicing, but assuming you are doing the breathing properly, this may be an adjustment issue. When you first start any new physical activity, whether it's jogging or deep breathing, you'll be more tired until you get used to it. If it's a strong breathing exercise, it's important not to overdo it, by the way, especially at first.