Ish

Yeah i have to agree you seem to be relying too much on these random practices rather than just working on the root of the problem - Mind. Time will also heal but having reasonable and effective thought patterns with constant awareness will speed up the process.

Can you explain why you cant refine Qi to Shen?

I participated in the distance class with Ya Mu (Michael Lomax) with the Stillness Movement practice. There was an UNDOUBTABLE difference & energy in the sessions where he did the transmission. I think all Michael needs is a picture of you but dont quote me on that. I went in with no expectations and was suprised, very tangible experience.

Yeah me too, sounds incredible John thanks for sharing. Very inspiring.

Yeah this book mentions the importance of staying morally perfect and in the central channel once the light from the practice becomes very powerful. This is so you can go through the crown chakra and achieve the spiritual aim as opposed to getting stuck in ida or pingala which can lead to various siddhis but is not the real path. The Sikh practice would have a big influence from Yoga so they would be very similar. Edit: http://www.boss-uk.org/articles/pdf/TheSocietyofSaintsv3.pdf Skip to page 12 in the book if youre interested, theres a good description of this path there.

Mantra can be a shamatha practice btw. I believe Tibetan Buddhists use mantras to purify karma and create fertile soil for the practice to blossom. In Sikhism mantra practice can be the whole path with "Wa he gu ru", navel heart throat and 3rd eye. The descriptions of the results of this practice initiated by a Guru sound very similar to the results of Tibetan Buddhism and even Taoist Alchemy. So it definitely goes far beyond just quieting your mind. Personally ive found mantra very reliable in going into Jhanas, just repeat sincerely and with devotion. No distractions.

Tibetan Buddhism - Tummo

Many people are addicted and have some bad withdrawal on trying to quit, would watch it if you rely on it as an energy source.

I wonder is "sleep paralysis" an entity attack? For sure many people report supposed hallucinations of demons/shadow figures and the like. For me instinctively projecting qi at them or reciting a mantra works, poof away like smoke, but it could just be a hallucination.

Build some internal power.

Some "meditation" could certainly fall under hypnosis. Most are not. Actually in the past students wouldn't have all the theoretical information they would simply practice the technique and achieve the results due to diligent practice. As for myself im 100% certain that its not placebo as i have experienced things out of the blue that i've only seen described after the event.

There's the saying that the external world only arises due to the mind moving. So it seems the true no mind or enlightenment ceases the mind on a much more fundamental level than simply having no thoughts arising. However is this an attainment leading to yin spirit? I have certainly seen this criticism in some Taoist texts.

Feels natural for it to come out, no concrete answer but thats what i do.

Thanks guys, very helpful!

You're fine. You may run into troubles if you try to forceful compress chi into the dan tien but otherwise just dont worry and rest, it will go away.

Sex is another matter but it's obvious masturbation has a negative effect on the body, if overdone. The standards these days of a reasonable amount are far too much, most people think once a day is OK, but in my opinion thats bad for you. Also say bye bye to your cultivation if you're doing that. Theres no need to beat yourself up over it or over exaggerate the negative effects, but as with any activity be honest with yourself as to why you need to do it and what you are getting. For me aswell its hard to go "tee total" but slowly making progress and getting better understanding. As Scotty said, a self experiment should make it very clear. If you cant even bring yourself to stop to test it out you may be more addicted than you think.

Thanks i'll check out the Dvd, by the way does Bruce Frantzis advocate the 100-0 weighting?

Yeah.. its a downright obsession on here, maybe should have a month of no topics and less thinking about wacking off. It might even help the issue!

Quietly seconding to not read too much Otherwise - Good luck!

About 70-30 ~ 60-40 . How long do you practice it? Personally im not going to time anything but around 15 mins per side will probably be a start for me. I've noticed It feels quite refreshing to practice a lopsided form alongside the holding ball posture. The stance itself feels quite powerful, will have to see what it brings with some regular practice.

Might be too much energy and not enough shen developement. So a meditation where you arent focused on physical on energy: zen or dzogchen simple meditation will help to smooth things out and keep your emotions in clarity.

Master Hu Yao Zhen (creator of Stillness-movement) could do some incredible feats and says that the practice does have some relation to the martial. One his high level students Feng Zhiqiang was said to have a ball of hardened qi that he could move around his body at will, doesnt that sound like "level 3"? Also i believe he reached that with less than a decade of training with Master Hu and Chen Fake.

I think its about the depth of your meditation, i can't do massive stretches of sitting either (around 2h is the most i've done a few times) but the deeper you go the less time matters. Also worth examining, why do i want to finish, is the mind agitated thinking i've already been sitting for 2 hours, thats enough - still too attached to the past, not really meditating. If it's the body then it's a somewhat gradual progress of posture, relaxation, conditioning of physical and energy channels. Of course the mind/body can make the body/mind change even when it shouldn't .

Thats pretty amazing.

All the info is basically on the DVD's so rewatch till it all sinks in. Also useful to remember Gift of the Tao goes hand in hand with the Stillness Movement system so that's worth looking in to. I too am just getting into the Gift of the Tao 1, going at a snails pace but it gets a bit clearer every time i practice. Best of luck