Yoda

Yogani defines it as an abiding happiness that is not dependent upon circumstances.

prior to puberty... I have a friend who naturally learned how to masturbate w/o ejaculation as a youngster and in later years, was a very gifted runner and was mega, mega smart. He did have some emotional issues... too bad he didn't teach himself meditation too! Rather than holding a masturbation clinic for my kids, they'll have access to my library and can avail themselves of it at the right time possibly. I'm not really into pushing my pet projects on my kids, but they'll certainly be aware of juicing, meditation, yoga, Esther, etc. I think just being aware of this kind of thing is nice, regardless of whether they get into it or not. On a similar subject, there's a very interesting article in this month's Discover on genetics. Apparently, Lamarck (sp?) was right... the giraffe who cranes his neck to reach the higher branches has kids who will have longer necks. I've always intuited that this was the situation, but science has scoffed that notion until now. So practicing before procreating may well have some effect on the offspring's genetics. So too, would the cozy vibe (hopefully) that a practitioner could offer for the child's environment which influences genes expressed, etc.

..., What was the toy that you are digging? I still haven't gotten my layered lemurian HHG. I have high hopes for that sucker, but I haven't gotten any response as to its whereabouts. I got my tower busters... while stinky, they are nice. -Yoda

I second that. If SeanD's claims are true, and I am perfectly willing to believe that they are, it's nice that people like him are offering these stories, documentaries, etc. But the most eye opening would be in the UFC ring, imo. Any disbelievers, can go to nyc for a treatment by Robert Peng. While he's not an MA type, you can get the vibe on the power of this sort of thing, which could easily take on multiple assailants. Personally, I find the violence and edginess of the Jack Chang style of Taoism to be unappealing. But it does have tremendous potential to open up even the most dismissive naysayers if brought more into the open. I'm sure David Shen will do a good job on this front, and bring it out in a manner that is respectful of his tradition. I was just thinking that the Jack Chang tradition is so fight-loving, that they'd dig mastering the UFC world in short order. -Yoda

If you email Winn, you can get on the list right now and he won't need a 100% commitment/deposit for another year so if you are like me... totally love to go, but can't make a firm commitment why not sign up on the list? That might help smooth out the energetic wrinkles in the meantime... but it would be way too fun to have a taobums do China tshirt at the end of the day, wouldn't it? I know Winn's operation is a nonprofit, so maybe a portion of the trip could be a tax deduction or something? If that's true, that could be a discount right there.

Well, it's essentially breathing into and pressurizing the lower abdomen and learning to squeeze the tailbone area. Both are worth experimenting with. Dr Lin differs with Chia about focusing on the squeezing the perineum. David Deida's how to book (which includes a cd) is a much easier to follow guidebook which is pretty close to Lin, but Deida doesn't stess the inhalation into the lower abdomen as much. I'd go with Deida's book, as it's easier to follow. Also, advancedyogapractices.com tantric section is worth checking out too.

and bored. I just googled 5 petal plum kidney chi kung... that's the eddie chong dvd? Is it good for retention?

So you've been using it consistently for awhile... that's very cool. Mrs Yoda says that we still own that novamassager thingy. I'll try both at some point. Is wire hitting the same as "packing"?

Here's what Chia says about wire hitters: Activate the Stem Cells Chi Kung: With the use of a bamboo hitter and a wire hitter, vibrate parts of the body so the stem cells get the message on where to go for healing and regeneration.

You've outlived Jesus and Amadeus... keep it up!!

Sean, Sadly, I've put my kechari project on ice. But it's like Daddy's car just sitting there and he won't come home for awhile... and sitting on that phone book and start cruising... I got caught then too! It is fun! Masterforge, Welcome to taobums... that's a totally shweet sword you got there!! -Yoda

Damn!!! Mad Max is on it again!! Somebody email Ron!! I think I've got one of those ultrasound massagers around here assuming I didn't misplace or toss it during the move. I've been thinking of assembling one of those wire slapper thingies to charge up the bones for my running program, but the ultrasonic (if I can find it) would be a cool update. I bet the wire slappers would create ultrasounds too. Anyone know what gauge wire to use? Did the rabbit make it? Did it become the walrus? ~~ Speaking of bone power... I was just out on a run and I saw a big dog get smacked by an SUV at 45mph and it just shook it off and kept running. No blood, no limping. Impressive. The dog was running at full tilt, so it's chi was up, obviously. -Yoda

..., I used to disagree with Max, but now all I can say is that he's dead on. If I had listened to him, I could have saved 2 years of screwing around. Then again, I had to find out for myself. So what I would say is to go for it, but keep Mad Max's wise words in mind and if you blow a gasket you'll know what's up. -Yoda

Sean, That's what I learned from sungazing... I'm calling it: there's not another practice as sexy and exciting as that one... the love is so powerful, I tear up just thinking about it. Sure there was turbulence, but damn, I got to hang out with the gods and very high priests, etc in my dreams--it was great!! But I noticed that my deals were *all* falling apart--it was really weird-- it was like I was under a curse... my finances totally sucked wind for 2005. I realized that something would have to change... so that's when you posted a year ago re: ayp where Yogani described pranayama poisoning and I realized that that was what I had done to myself. So I dropped sungazing and other energy practices like retention, etc and focused on iam meditation and my emotional life softened from an exciting graphic novel to a much mellower vibe. It was only after a few months that I could really see that the sungazing really made me a bit edgy throughout the day. Per law of attraction, many aspects of my life became smoother. One point that Esther makes re: law of attraction, is that it isn't the high amplitude emotions one feels that effect your destiny, it's the 24/7 self talk. So hitting one's thumb with a hammer and throwing a full blown tantrum over it doesn't really have that much power creating your future even though the negativity was pretty powerful. But the mood that had slowly lead up to the tantrum and the mood that tapered from the tantrum--that mood may have a life of several hours, days, months, years, etc and that's what creates the future. But much more than that, those moods destroy the experience of the now. Why screw with subtle negativity when you can be experiencing joy and happiness? Living a decent life just isn't good enough when it can be lifegasmic at the peaks and blissful in the valleys. Esther doesn't give a shit about the $$s or the manifestations. The only reason why we want those things is an excuse to feel blissful anyways. Milarepa didn't even own a shirt or a bowl of food... manifesting stuff is just like doing long division for someone like that. The key use of manifestations are to point out emotions that one doesn't care to admit. I wasn't sensitive enough to admit or be aware of the downsides of excessive sungazing, so my lack of income kindly helped me see that I was emoting in a way that didn't serve me. Whenever something negative happened to Milarepa, he'd realize that the experience was a projection of his mind and was grateful to the robber, demon etc for highlighting some aspect of his vibration that he had not yet dealt with... Buddhist terminology, but same process. -Yoda

Cloud, I wouldn't force the pranayama thing. One option might be to do some yoga or light power yoga right before meditation to oxygenate and open the channels in lieu of pranayama. Or maybe just sit in siddhasana for a few minutes before meditation to get things moving below the belt. And/or do Trunk's testical massage/ice treatment before meditation, etc. Just don't overdo the exercise or you'll be too stimulated to get into the meditation state. I wouldn't label yourself as 'blocked' either... I'd go with the label 'gifted' in that you are very sensitive to energy circulation exercises which is a glorious thing in the long run. Just changing labels will really help. If you are drawn to Adyashanti, then possibly the above doesn't apply. Just sit there. While there are many people out there like Adyashanti who didn't need a method, I definitely do and that's what systems like AYP provide. Like Freeform says, iam is just a method for assisting the mind to abide in the formless tao. Yogani says that mantras can be used for energy cultivation or for meditative cultivation depending on the mantra itself and how it's used. So saying om out loud with no real pauses is using it as an energy tool, but saying it mentally with long deep, blissful pauses and only repeating it when one becomes aware of self and other again, etc it becomes a meditation tool. At the same time it is a meditation tool, it does cultivate certain energy currents at a very deep level. Yogani says that om is the king of mantras, but that it can be harmful when used as a meditation tool when the nervous system isn't ready for it as it stimulates the crown chakra directly. Iam on the other hand, doesn't do that, so is safer. Go with whatever feels the best, of course. -Yoda

Welcome to taobums FatherPaul!

I have it and second Spyrelx's review. I plan on reading it again, but this time I'll use a highlighter so I can transmute the old texts into something more practice friendly.

AYP is 100% free. Yogani has all the gold he needs. ~~~~ Imo, we are spiritual beings through and through... anything we think, feel, and do is part of our spiritual growth, so making money or not making money is 100% compatible with being spiritual. I've just gone from making about 50k/yr to over 100k part time and--in my particular case-- how I did it was simply to find a cultivation system that works for me which helps me feel better and have more energy... so other departments of life are clicking into place. In the past, I've lived in my car eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc and had a perfectly grand time. In fact, I've never felt as rich as I did then--money just didn't exist. That's really my quest again now... to earn enough that it ceases to exist. And the same thing on the work front--to have so much fun working that money is an inadvertent by-product. Workgasms... ah. The camel through the eye of the needle thing is misleading. Money has absolutely nothing to do with being a spiritually worthy being. Just look at kids... the silver spoons in the US and the children in Haiti aren't hung up on it, aren't casting judgement about it... they are all feeling good and having fun like Tao masters should. Where the camel thing has something going for it, is that if you were to run around with a happy meter in Haiti and in, say, Manhattan... kids as well as adults would be happier in Haiti. Do this all over the world and one can find that money doesn't correlate with happiness or that money actually correlates with unhappiness, but I think that has more to do with cultural thought patterns than the actual possession of money. My guess: Sean is doing too much high energy practices which is overloading his nervous system and makes him feel like shit on an ongoing basis but he sticks with it, b/c there are some occational burps of ecstacy that comes with those practices. Sean, let me know how I did! -Yoda

Well, the Tibetan lineages argue and snipe all the time about who's the best too. Energy cultivation practitioners are going to have too much energy to just chill out and 'let it be', I'd imagine.

I had just read a political thread here and needed to raise my vibe--That was perfect, thanks!

Sean, Kickin' post! I've always assumed that people with powerful, electric chi are born that way and that it is hard to cultivate for an average American practitioner. I hope some taobums take you up on it and are permitted to report their results to the rest of us. -Yoda

Yeah, the test isn't really geared for us cool folks.

69-70 was a beautiful time of awakening!! It changed American consciousness more than any other time in our history, and arguably more than the rest of our history put together. And that change lasts to this day. I really got this lesson when I went through the Smithsonian exhibit entitled "fashion and gender relations through the decades" (in North America) 1600s through the mid 1960s was glacial and "frozen" and then *BAM* it all shook loose!!! Really amazing. After hundreds of years, people could finally relax a bit and have fun! Even the concept of selflessness is evolving nicely from being a puritan way to avoid hell to more of a bliss and joy thing. As soon as it becomes fun, people will do it!

Pietro, It's awesome that you have a progressive dentist on your team!! All I know is that one pubmed extract that shows that dental recalcification happens in dogs and humans, but it didn't make any claims about filling in cavities. I have found that my alternative tooth care strategy has rendered my teeth too sensitive. A few weeks of fluoride rinsing has fixed the issue. I would email Dr. Gerard Judd, a well known alternative dentist. Dr Judd is at [email protected] Good luck! Yoda