Master Logray

I think you will never be sure, even you have personally face it or have gone through it. If there is a system at all, it could be very complicated. And as a single spirit, you simply walk through some of the many channels. There may not be an overview for you on how it works, its intricate hidden rules, exceptions and so on.

May I ask a more practical question. If you people are doing all sorts of meditation in forests - then how do you deal with mosquitoes? Or there is no mosquitoes in N. America because of the lower temperature?

I also support reading the Tibetan Book of the Death. It has a lot of mechanics in the process of dying. We can go to a new place without any map or knowledge. But with a map, articles, Google map and street view, we would achieve much more and avoid pitfalls. It would also be useful to properly dispose of your belongings, material or not, beforehand and repay all your debts. It would avoid the urge to look back which often affects the smooth transition in the process. The Taoists, from my impression, want to defy death to stay as long as possible. In the course, they try to develop a "baby" which can keep all their power, knowledge and experiences for further incarnations.

Well, it happens that Taoists do look like this . And very often they intentionally dress like that to avoid unnecessary attentions and external interferences.

It is an important advice. Just like warm up exercises but more important.

Kentucker4, don't worry about demons or Kharma for the time being. Firstly how old are you? I am wondering this is because in the eastern world, those practices QiGong are generally those who feel a need, usually due to age or weak bodies. So most of the masters this side deal with problems in raising the Chi level, they don't really need to face the issue of overflow. While if you are young, full of energy already, could be even having some more than normal level of Chi inborn, then the issue of overflow could occur. A more common example is that young people are not expected to take Ginseng otherwise they could have nose bleeding due to accumulating too much heat/yang Chi inside. If this theory is applicable, you could be having a full reservoir, then the Chi Kung raises it further. Without good guidance as mentioned by some members, like circulating the excess Chi into dantians, i.e. sinking back, circulating, redirecting etc, you could feel some irritations. It is usually due to the Chi rushing around. The idea is basically similar to the finance concept, you need to lead the hot money into proper long term investments - then the hot money becomes real money. Otherwise they just drive up prices here and there and lead to speculations. Slow down the inflow of hot money also helps. That means don't be too vigorous or do too much active visualization first. Pace a bit, relax a bit. No need to push. As to the lust you feel, it is completely natural and this subject has been mentioned in many posts. The Chi will make you stronger - also in the reproductive aspect. So you feel a drive to have an outlet. Higher Chi Kung practices always deal with this phenomenon. And this sex drive is used to further the development of Nei Gong practice in many sects. I think you can get assistance on this easily. Regarding your sensitivity to Chi Kung, the many exposures and experiences in meditation, visualization, OBE, I can't really comment on those but would just say different practices sometimes conflict with each other not unlike softwares. If you want to find out the real problem, then you need to isolate each practice and observe the results and then correct or find help. Finally, traditionally speaking, people who practise Chi Kung/Meditation are often described as per-disposed in life which is a form of Kharma.

Kentucker4, if what you said is true and complete, and you don't have other possibly related practices (yoga meditation, hypnosis, some forms of magick, prone to fantasies, pre-existing psychiatric conditions....), then you are only doing very rudimentary stuff and for few months only. Millions and millions of people are doing this sort of practices in parks everyday. The biggest risks are usually no result, waste of time and money, sun burns... Naturally every person is different. One of the plausible explanation inside Kung Fu itself, is that you are, for some reasons, full of Chi/energy already, i.e. an inborn master - like Anakin. Once you start to practise, the overflow Chi could pose a problem to you. This sort of situation, fortunately or unfortunately, only exists in traditional Kung Fu novels/literature, or Star War. In higher practices, i.e. advanced level in prolonged sitting meditation, the issue of demons might arise. You might see demons (if you are Christian), or Buddha or any deity/demon - according to your own religion and belief. It is because in the prolonged meditation, the dark side of you will surface, the sub-conscious will be active on its own. So you will be seeing your own deepest inner self, like things that you are scared of, dogs, spiders, bad bosses, betrayal of girl friends, bankruptcies (modern demons!) ... The traditional teaching is to ignore all of them. It is only possible in advanced stage, and most people can't reach that level. And as suggested by many members, you need a good master. However for Kung Fu and active/moving Qi Kung training, this kind of situation (demons) never occurs. It is because the conscious mind is always active. And no one can do a single unmoving horse stance for few hours. I know hypnosis and would suggest you stop the hypnosis track every night for the time being, just in case there are conflicts like different healthy applications crashes each other in computer.

All religions rot, all cultures rot, but they rot differently, and differently during different times. Some religions/culture/race just don't do something. Well, they could do even worse things, but in this example they are not so interested in boys as others.

Such accusations of homosexual abuse on minors in monasteries is totally groundless. And it probably is a plot to bring down other religions like Buddhism so that Catholicism don't look too bad. As far as China monasteries are concerned, such situation is unheard of, in both China and overseas communities. I am not saying Chinese Buddhist monks are saints. In fact Buddhist monks and Taoists were often looked down by the mainstream Chinese communities as unproductive and full of questionable practices in the past. Back in the 1960s, there was a very famous popular movie "Burning down the red lotus temple" which portrayed a gang of monks set up secret chambers in a temple and kidnapped women and robbed around. The story was supposed to be based on real happening in the pre-WWII China. But the act of homosexual abuse on minors is unheard of. Of course it could happen as all religious institutions are full of every kind of people. But it definitely don't really exist in Chinese monasteries, or Japanese ones.

My impression is that purist Nei Kung schools normally working with the original/internal/prenatal Jing/Chi. Little stress is on absorbing Chi from outside. However there are also more recent schools telling people to absorb Chi from outside. Very often the 5 elements are taken into a/c. e.g. if a person is deemed to be short of water element, then the practitioner is expected to be trained near water locations. This would go hand in hand with the element based diets or herbal medicines and linked to Chinese fortune telling too. If you are short of fire, visualize fire more during your meditation etc. I think it is no harm to try out different ways yourself during your practices. When you reach a very high level, then the purist way would probably be the only way.

Different levels. Immortal body can be astral body or physical body.

Very good post and very good observation. All Tao practices are just like daily build up of wealth, good body, fame, knowledge.... They are all temporary after all. It is what you can bring to another life that ultimately matters. Otherwise most are merely health exercises - although quite potent.

ChiDragon has an interesting comment. We all know that the training will put the three into a loop. But what happen if there is no training, no internal alchemy, so the 3 (or at least the last 2, Chi and Shen) maintains stay put and just dwindle as a person ages?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Huai-Chin

The proper wording is 煉精化氣，煉氣化神，煉神還虛. There is a 煉 (Nin) in front. This word 煉 means refining, distilling... It is same as western alchemy. Refining raw material into higher level substance by human effort.

I happen to have finished reading the translation of Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi 1 or 2 months ago. That is a Chinese translation, yes, Chinese translation of the ancient book, compiled 30 years ago by a master in Taiwan. The original ancient text was in short sentences of fixed 4 or 5 words in a lot of symbolism and hidden meaning. It is around 6000 words only. As other classical Chinese, it is highly condensed and subjected to interpretations. This "translation" is written/compiled by traditional Chinese (also quite concise comparing with modern Chinese), becomes 800,000 words of 3 volumes. I have yet to grasp many of the points in it. It is definitely a very comprehensive and deep writing in the internal training of Taoist. No doubt this book is regarded as the ancestor of all the Nei Dan books. However I would caution that readers must read it with care as it is hard to understand and easily be misled, especially in regards to the exercises and phenomenons in the training. The link has sent me the newsletter of TCCII but not the actual book, looking forward to see what it is.

Roughly.... "Discussions on Chi can be in follows: 1. as metaphysical reality, ether, the source. 2. as physical existence, flowing in this world, not solid, not liquid, something that can disseminate. 3. as breath, sometimes related to spirits, related to human breathing. 4. use chi to explain about body and human relations, how one behaves and treat others. This is only a roughly explanation, in 4 areas, the original theory, the universe theory, human body theory, and character theory." I personally feel this writing is - uses difficult language to explain simple things..... And it omits the Chi in terms of martial arts which can partly be in item 3.

I am from Hong Kong. Can understand classical Chinese used in Taoist writings. But they are so full of symbolism that make real understanding not easy.

This style is not the most popular one. Learning Chinese martial arts not only needs excellent master, but also coaches and fellow students for practice. Your location in USA may not have such. So better think about it. It is not meditation that you can study and practice alone. Another point is that choosing a particular style is heavily related to the learner's temperament, body built, agility and so on. The merits of the style would not be the most important factor in your choice.