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Haha yeah that list is a bit dodgy. For myself i've always found my meditation is BEST at night, after midnight when everything is silent.

Well the "fire path" is ALREADY the reverse way, the energy in emission naturally flows down the spine and out the genital organ, so the fire path is reverse of the normal way that leads to drain of vitality.

Michael Lomax has a method in his light warrior book for intuitiveness, more for advanced practioners.

Note he said "high end". Really 3 high end meals is only that much? I've never been to mainland china, but thats really cheap, considering the fancy stuff is usually catered to westerners so the price tends to shoot up.

I like when he spoke about how people approach him like he's a therapist, i think it's a common misconception some people have about spiritual teachers these days.

Thanks Chi Dragon

Thank you. I guess you have already studied under Master Wang, are you going to this retreat also?

Yeah with a bit more stretching the positions won't be uncomfortable even after an hour. I only sit half lotus as with full lotus one of my knees doesn't touch the ground yet, but i can do half lotus for an hour with no dicomfort, only some numbness. I feel i can connect better with the dan tian in half lotus as opposed to cross legged, but my small experience with stillness movement reveals that the quality of your awareness or intent is perhaps more important.

People will listen and consider your ideas if you give some good reasons. Just posting one line opinions isn't going to help anyone, your approach comes off as very blunt and childish.

You can feel the shape of your body, you don't have to see your finger to know the shape of it by feel. Is this really not obvious?

Yeah, I get that sometimes too. I notice after a good meditation session where the energy is high, after uncrossing my legs they will go from partially numb to fully functional in about 5-10 seconds. Also during meditation often my back or neck will suddenly straighten or adjust with a *crack* sound, the neck is particularly loud due to a long time blockage. But you can definitely feel the difference in quality of energy and focus after the energy clears your alignment.

Regarding the foot weighting, i've found the natural for me is to have balance over the whole foot. IMO just learn a method from a master you trust, and continue in that way. Don't mix and match aspects from different lineages. If you practice in one way for a while and find you are making good progress, then continue, if not, see what might be going wrong.

I believe traditional Taoist cultivation is dual cultivation of body and mind. It seems Therevada Buddhism is basically mind cultivation, it is said the wisdom into the nature of things of an Arahat is the same as a Buddha. But from the Mahayana Bodhisattva Bhumis, they attain multiple physical forms and Bodhisattvas such as Guan Shi Yin are beyond birth and death, so this certainly aligns to the Taoist Yang Shen and immortality. The Buddhas also have many supernatural powers. So i would guess the highest levels of Immortality and Enlightenment in taoism and buddhism are very similar.

I don't think you should practice microcosmic orbit if you are a beginner. Especially learning from books. Moving qigong and seated breathing or emptiness meditation without visualisation are excellent, as long as you go about them with the focus of being relaxed, open and keeping your mind calm, you can circulate and build energy much more efficiently than MCO. The best option is to eventually learn from an instructor or master.

Just because it makes sense to me. Energy is also very interesting.

I assume you were practicing microcosmic orbit if you were "circulating and storing jing". If you do it correctly it can decrease your sex drive, circulating the excess energy at the perineum/genitals to the lower dan tian and storing it. I don't know whose methodology you learnt the MCO from so i won't comment further. In my experience, allowing your natural breathing to slow and deepen to the lower abdomen is a good excercise to balance energy, so no it shouldn't cause nocturnal emission. Most qigong/meditation practiced correctly will increase your energy in some way, so just be mindful of your thoughts not giving rise to lust.

I don't see the point in arguing with lao tzu, no basis to what he says 90% of the time in proof or personal experience.

Don't worry im pretty sure you haven't damaged anything, generally people get problems if they regularly press the perineum with their finger to forcefully stop the emission. If you are abstaining in my experience doing some reasonably long sessions of seated meditation helps a lot to sublimate the energy, and also tame your mind so you aren't as affected by things arousing the lust. I don't know what qigong you practice, some may increase your kidney yang and make you a bit more horny, others may balance. But give it a day or so without arousing your lust, and do some seated meditation.

From MarkB's post (if i understood), the 3600 includes your hotel fee and 3 meals a day for the 10 days. Apparently the government is also given money, who knows how much. So the profit you mention is less. Wang Liping is at the top of his field, so the comparison with a baseline annual earning isnt really fair.

True. It is said that one of the highest form of charity is spiritual teaching, if you don't have the attainment yourself, how can you help others on the levels such as energy healing/development or spiritual teaching.

Very biased, For the intensive you are speaking of, the purpose isnt just to feel energy. You can do that in 5 minutes by yourself. So you're saying inner alchemy is less worthy than giving $5 to a homeless person who will probably spend it on a pack of cigarettes... interesting.

Here it is