Harmonious Emptiness

I have a number of questions about this meditation as well, though I feel they would mostly all be answered if I were more able to attend a workshop (could be quite a while before I get there). Maybe someone could point me a bit more in the right direction regarding the following.. How about spontaneous chi gong movements during Jing Dong Gong Nei Gong, like bringing energy through the body with the help of the palms to keep the conductivity. For example, feeling that chi wants to escape upwards and so following it up and away with the palms, then feeling that it wants to return and move through the dantien and organs and ming men, then pulling and gathering into the dantien, creating something that looks like a mix of Bagua silk reeling and maybe Gift of Tao and other qi gong movements. Would this be overindulging, or is it also accepted so long as it's the hands following chi rather than the other way around? I've seen a video of something resembling this, but I'm not sure if it was the same 'genre'(?) of spontaneous movement.

Also will say -- having sex without ejaculatory emissions can teach the gong fu of "taming the white tiger." Author Daniel Reid had a great tip.. hopefully I can share... that to get accustomed to celibate sex, if you will, have sex again later the same day, with emission, if necessary.

Yeah, I'm not completely sold on the statement that Mysterious Female is Dao 100%. Best I leave Chi Dragon to that... I'd be kidding myself if I thought I had an answer to that one Can you elaborate a bit on "stage"?

I suppose it's also as: "know the male but keep to the female" Could maybe look at it like the Empty Vessel. The extremes of yin or yang revert to the other. The vessel can be filled, receiving what you give it, but when overfilled it overflows, giving back and becomes yang in a way, "blunting the sharpness" etc. So it has the potential for anything, but perhaps can be described in terms of yin and yang in order to see it's way of operation? -edit- just saw your post Chi Dragon, didn't mean to repeat you..

I practice retention and find that when I do let my energy drop to lower centers it is more difficult to handle than it was before and I have to work to get it back to the LDT or Middle Dantien. Thus, allowing it to drop does not release the urge, rather it puts you in a place that makes it more difficult to balance. So you will have urges whether you release or not. Might as well train to overcome the urge as you will still have to do it after release, and it will likely be even more difficult, especially when you have been storing and balancing greater amounts of energy. Eventually you will have to learn to get over that rough few days, and when you do it becomes much easier. You should check out the other threads on the topic for more practices and safety measures.

Yes, we could reasonably say that this is not merely yin without yang, because this is "the source of Heaven and Earth" while "Creative" is considered part of the yang principle. However, it is interesting that the end of this chapter says: 用之不勤 Literally: use, operation/it/not/effort, hardworking So it's not so much Creative in the yang sense, but both providing the ground and also nurturing it to completion, all without "much ado." Once again we have the non-duality of yin and yang, though, as yang is often considered to provide the materials which yin acts upon and finishes. So, you surely make a good point CD, but still, this chapter seems to be at least Yin-leaning for the time being, both in mentioning "mysterious female" and its creation with "no forceful effort" much like a seed blooming, or a female forming a baby during pregnancy (not to say it's easy, but it can also happen successfully without forceful effort ..).

Just my two cents: mysterious female was quite literally, mysterious and female (of an animal, bird, plant, but not a person which is a different symbol altogether). Yin and Yang are not mentioned much at all in the Tao Te Ching, so I think "mysterious feminine" is about as close to "yin principle" as it gets. Otherwise just "feminine" would probably have been used.

Not sure if you missed my point for the sake of argument, or just wanted to repaint the picture with a different density of paint..

I'm thinking about it this way: "The empty vessel is used, but never used up." You have a cup, you fill it, it is still a cup. You overflow it, it is still a cup. It receives but it doesn't grasp. It lets go of the overflow and remains receptive, open, always ready to recieve, always ready to let go.

Very well written! When the light falls, the stars come out...

Mindfulness Meditation: as Bruce Lee said "Don't think, feel!" though he maybe didn't mean it this way. Be aware of the arising, the residing, the passing, and the non-residing of everything. what you do see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you feel? What emotion is rising/residing/passing/no longer residing? When you don't "think", this is your "shining mind." That is my chosen way of doing it, borrowed mostly from a teaching of The Buddha found in the book "Old Path, White Clouds."

It is often good advice to say "find one practice and stick with it, find an experienced teacher to guide you through" but I'll offer another suggestion since I don't do that practice. Focus on the dantien instead, and focus your vision on a point in front of you on the floor or the wall, with clear thoughts and desires. Eventually (depending on how long you've been meditating altogether. Could be months, could be 20 minutes) you will probably feel energy rise up by itself to around the same space on the forehead, by which time you won't have to "put" your focus there with any forcefulness as it will just be there and you can be aware of it while also not focusing too much on it. One of the Taoist additions to meditation is to allow things to happen rather than trying to force them. A lot of this is often done by starting with the dantien energy center below the navel where you can also point the center of your palms for more focus. From there, things usually do as they need to.

I am no credited [ed. to add "ed"... .] master by any means, but I think it stands to reason and beyond that in empyting ourselves of selfishness, desire, anger, jealousy, pride, and various other obstacles to spirituality, we clean our window well enough that we see God in the entire Universe including ourselves and others, in the ways of life, fortune and misfortune, growth, regression, and all the states of Tao. In accepting the Emptiness of Everything, we also accept The Everything though see it's nature is one with all, which is Emptiness. "Only by emptying our cup can it then be filled."

I practiced this http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1572962536605659291 style of qi gong for a few years, off and on while experimenting with others to see what I liked best. It may be linked to Healing Tao as it seems to have been developed by Michael Winn. It is relatively easy to remember the movements\details and seems to take the essentials of qi gong and create one sucinct style. With all the various styles that I looked into, I found that this one had enough of them for me to just stick with it. I found it very effective to clear stagnant energy and bring in fresh and positive energy right from the first try. You can do the form without so many repetitions if needed to keep it short. The video may seem long but that is due to all the extra info in it. Sitting meditation following the set is also good. If you can, I would definitely get to the Michael Lomax weekend in Finland as that is an amazing opportunity, especially when you have so much to gain given your condition. You could message him (username: Ya Mu) at TTB to determine if you will be able to handle all the (non-strenuous) movement. Have you tried a Doctor of Naturopathy? Macca root powder? Checked your thyroid function? Kelp capsules?

Thanks for your hard work Sean! two things that I do miss a bit are: the clock at the bottom right of the screen so I know how long ago some posts were made. also, some way to know that a topic has no new posts.. used to be faded after being read (edit: this function is working) I do plan on starting with a 4 month subscription when I get back home. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to click on advertising a bit more..

More or less what Humble just said, but people who walk around looking for fights are basically diseased in the emotions, mind, heart, intelligence, and maturity. They might as well be barking at the moon, so I don't take it personally any more than I would towards a complete lunatic who more obviously does not have control over themselves. Just doing nothing is often offensive enough as it shows the person that they are not even worth it for you, and they might even consider why that is and reconsider their self-control, relationship to life, and ask why they are acting this way, to whom are they trying to prove something, and if any of this makes any sense?. They are basically children on an emotional level and are usually at the mercy of other's opinions which pushes them to try and act this way. Ironically, the person who manipulates them in this way is usually a coward and tries to cover this up by pointing the finger at the impressionable. Thus, I see little to gain by putting these people in their place and more to gain by doing nothing and letting them walk with themselves and consider the value of their behaviour. However, if a rabid dog is a real threat, you don't just let it do as it does. There is something called "foolish kindness" and I think this obivously falls into that. Besides to be "kind" in this way ("foolish kindness") is usually to gain something from it so it's not really a kindness at all but might be motivated by way of a type of greed! Virtue in general requires doing things beyond the scope of self.

Brain cells are composed almost entirely of Lecithin which exists to varying degrees in food. You can buy lecithin granules or capsules, though the granules are easier find as organic and pesticide free. Eat them with yogurt or put them in a drink or smoothie. I take lecithin sometimes when getting a bit of arthritis from from playing guitar and typing too much since Lecithin also is used to create the padding in joints, and basically every cell in the body. It is known to be very good for memory and mental fortitude and I find I do feel a bit more able to hold more information and work things out when I'm on a phase of taking it. Pretty much any cell repair, especially for joints and brain health, is helped by Lecithin. Take it before you eat and it even helps the liver to process food. It will work better with a good balance of vitamins and minerals. I'll have to check my resources for which exactly but I think calcium was one of the supports for its function. Vitamin C is also extremely helpful for tissue repair. The surrounding gel or whatever its called that protects the brain is likely also largely made up of Lecithin though I can't say for sure. Likely water too which would of course be helpful. I'm sure the fact that dehydration is the main source of headaches has some significance to helping it all, as well as just to helping to distribute nutrients.

Good point Clarity @ Sinfest: French people say that you ­­`open` a light and a tv, ie open can also mean to activate or release blockage in it, make a connection, or whatever. You might be getting a bit too worked up over this. Why do you need people to say 'spin' exactly? Maybe their chakras do 'open' when they are activated. Perhaps you should spin or open or release your mind on that one... In my opinion. I think Clarity is on to something about not being taken seriously. We all know that it is important to be taken seriously in the real world if we are not 100% monks or hermits. It can be dangerous at times if we are not. However, it helps to know when we are mis-prioritizing things and taking the wrong things seriously. Meditating on generosity might help in this as well, letting the relationship take precedence over who walks away with the 'upper hand.' In doing so you stand to leave behind the petty ego (spiritual terms, not Freudian terms) which is little more than the child in us we have still not fully outgrown, in a sense. It can be a never ending process, but finding those handle bars of the ego and unscrewing them is part of the journey.

I think in general, people with long hair tend to feel more natural and at one with nature when they have long hair. ha.. interesting about the intuition and women having always had long hair while men were more likely to cut it.

Some walking meditation can help to bring energy downwards but it's usually done every 20 or 30 minutes. Seems maybe you ought to "do not doing" and let these things (that you're working on) take their course naturally in your meditation. For walking.. put palms, left under right, against dantien. Walk around the room at moderate or medium pace, tracing the shape of the room, bending ankles a bit around the corners, without engaging the thought-mind (ideally... [ ..pa-pun-pun..]).

Finally picked up an ibirk and have been trying to figure out how to make Turkish coffee on an electric stove. After a number of wasted cups, I have figured out the dos and don'ts 1)heat the water a bit on the burner, in a separate pot, to get the temperature up and also because it takes too long to get the froth going on an electric stove which could eliminate the antioxidants. You can also use the extra water to make it an Alongee if you want. 2) cover the bottom of ibirk lightly with sugar to get some caramel in the froth 3) put the Turkish grind on top of the water and spread over the top to create a seal, do not stir yet. You also need to add enough coffee to lower the boiling point. 4) bring the heat down to about 35% 5) when the froth starts to show, tip the ibirk up 2 or 3 millimeters so that only the side is on the element, circle it around so the froth comes up the other sides too 6) stir the froth, repeat frothing, stir and repeat frothing 7) spoon froth into bottom of cup, if you add cream, add it to the froth 8) pour the coffee without letting grains fall out. Truly time&effort/gong-fu coffee with lotsa love

Fair enough, I think, since Line 13, Pinyin does read "Wei wu Wei" Fyi, "wei wu wei" first appears at Line 13 in Chapter 3, rather than Chapter 2.

Yes, I can see how one sided the above could read, though at the same time, I'm mainly just talking about the usage of the sentence in this particular chapter. I agree that there are times when rules or whatnot need to be made and even enforced. Seems to me that chapter 3 is mainly talking about Being in a way that avoids the necessity for this though. Naturally, it would be illogical to enforce non-enforcement.

Meddling creates the problems mentioned in Chapter 3 That is why The lack of action in this way effects [creates] the desired change Then neither rules nor their implementation will have to occur The idea is the lack of action that "wins the war before the battle begins" by not meddling too much, not glorifying or creating desire for glory as this just creates competition when people could be living together in harmony. Also, this is not just for emperors and rulers, it is for anyone who chooses the path of wisdom as they will inevitably lead by the Watercourse Way. Decrees will be made by those who need to make them, when they need to make them, but it is not for the person of Dao to have to rely on them. He avoids problems before they happen by Wu Wei, non-interference et all... Of course, keep in mind too that "government" is often meant as a verb.

I missed your post Serene all thinking out loud or whatever is welcome here.. Obviously... [as evidenced by the long derails, for those who need a translation..]