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I would definitely widen that perspective and just leave it at various disciplines that may or may not be part of various traditions, contemporary or not.

Yes to the OP, and it only continues to do so perhaps more severely than before for a reason I or anyone else still cannot diagnose. But my choice of pursuing the path started with deep curiosity combined with my own undeniable rationality in favor of it, and not too long after it became the main aspect of life. It happened quite early in life and all on my own, in the company of books and contemplation. It's true, once you 'start', there's no turning back, ever. a very nice topic, thank you OP!

"under the "kill it" part of testosterone" ... "the ecofeminists love horticultural societies: their idea of heaven; we love dem old digging sticks" ... "not nearly as much fun as, gosh, big game hunting, which men had largely to give up" ... "men, of course, continued to wander off, male bond, and hunt, following the major drive of testosterone: fuck it (sic) or kill it" suffice to say I could not read any further, and so cannot contribute on the topic of dharma and money.

I sure believe you when you say journal-ing can take a long time, and the main reason I stopped. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks; direct ones, if they work for you, can be fairly reliable, but at the expense of being rested. For that reason I use it very sparingly. The positive thing I believe is dreams and lucid dream skills should naturally deepen as we continue whatever personal discipline or sadhana we do, not as another thing to grasp or achieve, but as something mirroring the general change of our whole self.

keeping a dream journal indeed takes up (imo wastes) a lot of time, and for lucid dreaming purposes is not really necessary if you use direct lucid dream induction methods, if the lucid dreams have high lucidity, and if you wake right after they have been extended to their limit. I imagine it is also possible to set your intention on remembering all the dreams you've had during the night in the morning while you prepare in the morning, and then once again later on in the day (which can be quite hard to do and a good exercise at that). This should not take very long at all, and no effort (it's quite natural to visualize something in memory) in comparison to writing them down, and serves to reinforce them in memory, even long term if they were particularly intense. During the early part of the day one could also be open to allowing various random thoughts to see if they trigger dream memories, and again this would happen naturally on its own and can be fun when it happens. Writing dreams down won't catch all the dreams at night anyways unless you deliberately wake up after each dream to do so, in which case you might not be getting full rest.

+1 to Lucky7Strikes even if I could not see your videos (internal server error) simply because this thread went nowhere. and those who speak...

I agree with Dainin. Your own experience with it no matter how you learned counts, and you could perhaps take it to a teacher and see what they think. Whatever you do, be honest about what you do think you know and what you don't, since it is always possible to waste other people's time, harm the reputation of the system in their eyes, or in worst case cause them harm. I imagine everyone would enjoy being taught by a true teacher who could really sense their students' abilities, unique needs, and guide them in the right direction most efficiently no matter who they are and what happens along the way (all without undermining their own self-reliance and inner guidance along the way!), not to mention connect qigong with other systems and all of life. just some thoughts, because I too ask that same question and do not really know myself. I honour its history and traditions of the past in which it was passed on, but they cannot be applied in the world of today without accommodating to it (which doesn't mean changing the method in any way, especially not degrading it) simply because it is not the same world.

I really the internal alchemy and theory that goes with it, and although I do see it as a sort of "core", the external layers are no less important, and as a beginner, see them as a gateway that makes one's approach truly comprehensive. There are many styles of Qigong sets, including tai yu shen gong which I consider closer to this core, and others apparently farther away such as taiji, more still, simple cardio exercise even. Chinese internal alchemy is great, but highly cryptic and hardly open. Later on on your search, I do also highly recommend AYP by yogani.

that book is something I'd think you might find highly insightful since you already showed an affinity for GFM and internal alchemy; not sure I would call it 'getting started material' though. I prefer the wilhelm edition over cleary's for a number of reasons, but better yet read them both. if someone asked a very general question of: where do I start, I would answer with start with looking first at yourself, what you're attracted to and perhaps repelled from, continue along those lines, alternating between a broad view and an in-depth look. next to that, simple meditation, which you've already explored. you'll often find the recurring advice to "find a teacher," and while I don't disagree with that, doing so should not be done to undermine or side-step your very own potential and inner guidance, especially not for setting up and using the vast resources already available now more than ever before.

Welcome Cat Pillar, have you read the book that GFM sources, secret of the golden flower? If I'd recommend one on internal alchemy, that one would be it. Eva Wong has a number of good books, though nothing as solid as GFM. I don't know Wing Chung, but I doubt Taiji would somehow interfere with other practices. You are expanding your experience and skill set, not constricting and solidifying it. Variation keeps things exciting and enjoyable after all, and I believe even allows you to do more without overdoing any one of them. If you tend to focus on one style or topic, which is often a great thing to do, it might come as a surprise that eventually you'll want to do the opposite and broaden outward who knows where. At least this happened to me. enjoy!

I see we've already met, welcome!

a warm welcome TaoBee, and glad you decided to be part of the fun, I look forward to seeing you around

I've seen one discussion about examining what's kundalini yoga and what's arguably part of sikhism, and how people put the two together, sikhs and non-religious alike. It might go against this site's terms&conditions if I link to another forum, so I won't, but it was an easy find since it makes for a popular search term to say the least. Their discussion has nothing conclusive or definitive that I came across unfortunately from a glimpse.

the book you've heard mentioned over and over

'proper' meditation depends on who you ask. there are various approaches to meditation and equally as many practices which are generalized as meditation. how you regard this variety will say a lot about your inclinations and ultimately the approach you choose to try. You've already mentioned TICHTC which is a book I wish I had found earlier in my search. Some styles are more traditional (and possibly more safe and effective), while others are more on the fringe of things (self-created styles by psychics is one example that comes to mind). I would start by collecting a few books from a good variety of traditions and zero in on the one that stands out for you. Generally, if there are things to definitely avoid, you would come across those warnings (some of the ones I came across are: don't focus on the crown directly unless you already know what you are doing, don't try to raise awareness on the third eye exclusively (establishing the plumb-line is a direct example of this insight), don't eat a heavy meal just before, don't put direct pressure on your knees exclusively thinking you are on your way to full lotus, exercise caution with your breathing so you don't collapse your lung if you are at risk, etc. etc.). Finally, trust your inner wisdom and inner guidance, and don't put unnecessary obstacles between you and meditation. It can only ever happen now. The very first person to label their practice as meditation had no clue what they were doing either; human progress did not stop because teachers and books did not exist.