Chang

Floating in the air Snowflakes falling from heaven Softening my gaze

Fare thee well and if forever, then forever fare thee well

the edge of the wheel crushes the virgin snow tracks leading nowhere

Beautifully put.

Whilst I do believe in karma I accept the fact that its workings are simply beyond my comprehension. That being the case my belief does not affect me very much at all. But have you ever considered that the very idea of karma may have been devised by good men to coerce bad men to act in a good way through fear of consequence?

For me it is the unaccompanied bamboo flute, preferably the shakuhachi. But some crystal or singing bowl music also assists in reacher deeper levels of meditation with greater ease.

Hello and welcome.

Sexual abstinence and semen retention are not paths that I follow but I am sure that there are many Tao Bums who could offer advice. Should you wish to do some background reading regarding the harnessing of sexual energy for Taoist cultivation then Mantak Chia is arguably the most famous writer on this subject. Mantak Chia If you search through the TB Forums you should find more than a few links on the subject and many of them will suggest exercising caution.

I also practice standing stake but generally let my attention rest on the dantien without consciously circulating the energy. As regards your head jerking forwards I wonder if you are allowing the tip of your tongue to rest on the roof of the mouth. This will assist in linking the two channels of the microcosmic orbit. If you are not doing so then it could result in involuntary movements of the head.

Hello Maya. Welcome.

Very interesting and informative. Thank you for posting this ralis.

Why are you practising sexual abstinence? Is it for moral, religious or spiritual reasons? Perhaps you intend to harness the saved energy for work on yourself. Or is it simply a case of believing that it is the right thing to do and you are harbouring a sense of shame connected with ejaculation. The first thing to do is take a more relaxed view of your situation, decide what it is you are hoping to gain in abstaining from sex. Sexual abstinence is not a necessity for inner cultivation and it is certainly not required at the beginning of work on oneself. Try to let go of your concerns regarding the acne and hair loss being connected with this. mYTHmAKER has already given you some good advice regarding this. At your age you should not be afraid to enjoy life. Good luck and welcome.

Or perhaps you are looking for something a little more dynamic?

There was a time when for me enlightened music would have meant Vivaldi or Mozart. Now it would have to be the unaccompanied simplicity of the shakuhachi.

I often find that when I am with my partner and thinking of a random subject she will suddenly begin talking about it. It seem as though our thinking is synchronised or attuned. This occurs far too often for it to be coincidental. It only seems to occur with her and for the record it is not something I ever experienced with my previous wife.

I had not heard of Ashwagandha being useful for sleep disorders. I did know of its use in Ayurvedic medicine as a male libido enhancer and a treatment for erectile dysfunction. I live and learn.

Yes breath and breathing are intrinsically linked with meditation even for those who do not actively use the breath in their meditation practice. As the breath slows, so does the experience of thinking. The number of thoughts experienced lessens. Good luck and best wishes to you in your practice.

The mixing of various herbs to form your own concoctions can prove problematic. Whilst I appreciate that you are a responsible adult and are producing these things for your own consumption I would still advise caution. Herbalists spend years in the study of the effects and usage of various herbs and whilst self-experimentation can be fun it can also be foolhardy. It can also be a case of searching for that magic bullet. Some simple thing that will work wonders for us with very little effort. I suspect that it does not exist and that good diet and exercise, of the internal and external variety, would prove far more beneficial.

There are an awful lot of "if's" here Rainy_Day. The trouble is all of these differing faiths have sometimes wildly differing views on the nature of the world. The reason I follow the Taoist path is that it gives me a practical path that provides concrete results. But I see myself as a practical Taoist rather than a religious one. I want verifiable results rather than relying on blind faith. This could well be true but the vast majority of the worlds population go through life thoughtless of the results of their actions in this world, never mind the unseen world. Hence the state we are getting ourselves into with climate change etc. For this reason I endeavor to raise my level of consciousness in the now as it is here and now that we can make the most certain progress.

Democracy is meant to provide us, the populace with the way to do this very thing. Unfortunately your cartoon describes exactly the position we find ourselves in. We are promised change but things go on pretty much the same way in most cases and our votes seem to give us a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. I suppose that we should be grateful that at least in a democracy the fear of losing votes can cause governments to drop or dilute unpopular legislation. Those living under totalitarian regimes do not have this safeguard.

I do not spend too much time either thinking or worrying about any afterlife. The disciplines I follow are designed to reduce the amount of time I think about the past and the future so that I can simply be in the now. Thoughts on life after death, heaven and dare I say hell are conjecture. Better to live and act whilst there is breathe in your body than to spend time thinking of what it will be like after your death.