Alchemistgeorge

hi yondaime109. You haven't given us much information about what you are trying to do, so here is a very general answer. I'm assuming you are male? your approximate age would also be useful. Assuming you are trying to cultivate your sexual energy while aroused? Is there a particular lineage / school / book you are studying? Here are my standard answers, I'm sure you'll hear other opinions. I originally learned with Mantak Chia, I have successfully done the sexual practices for over 20 years. is your orbit open? when you move the sexual energy, it needs to have somewhere to go, preferred route is via the microcosmic orbit. If you are serious about non-ejaculation, you need to make sure to take care of your prostate gland. One easy way is to do the 'deer exercise' (google it), which will also strengthen all the muscles in your pelvic floor. can you feel and move your sexual energy unaroused? I strongly recommend people learn, practice, and master the unaroused practices first. I know its not as exciting, its not quite so much fun, but it is much easier, and all the same skills apply - activating the sacral and cranial pumps, etc. Also, especially if you are in your teens or twenties, your sexual energy can be really hard to control, so moving some of it (daily) in unaroused form means there are fewer "wild horses" in the stable for you to control. [i do 'testicle breathing' while waiting on long lines. That's why I'm the only one [i]smiling[/i]] when you are aroused, the number one mistake I see men make is that they wait far too long to 'draw' - you can 'draw' after 30 seconds of stimulation. Waiting too long is the easiest way to get retrograde ejaculation. IMHO do not use the 'million dollar point' or 'three finger lock'. IMHO that is simple asking for trouble. While you are learning, you will ejaculate. It is part of learning. It will happen a lot. Don't worry about it. You are not going to die. If (when) it happens, enjoy it. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes. I, and many I know, have done extensive research - condemning yourself for a mistake yields no profit. none. <smile> The sexual practices are only one part of self-cultivation. The people I've seen get the most from them have daily practice routines that include daily meditation and some "grounding" practice - like standing meditation or tai chi or martial arts. Practicing with a partner is about 100 times harder than practicing alone. And you have to communicate - it talk to each other, while you are sexing. As in "talk out loud, to the other person." The sexual practices are not as safe as many would like you believe. Ignore the safety precautions at your own peril. The sexual practices are a foundation practice - an early step on the path. They are not a magic shortcut to immortality / enlightenment. I hope that is helpful.

no, but if your goal is to make money I can tell you from personal experience that the best way to make a small fortune in forex is to start with a large fortune. Seriously: as an outsider the deck is stacked against you. Your mileage may vary.

If it is handy, could you post a link to that interview? I'm in the east bay .....

After the recent thread on neigong induced psychosis, I thought I'd post this link - its an interesting medium length article about folks who are carried away by their enthusiasm for their spiritual development. Although written about India, I think it applies equally to neigong/qigong practice. Death on the Path to Enlightenment: Inside the Rise of India Syndrome Every year thousands of westerners flock to India to meditate, practice yoga, and seek spiritual transcendence. Some find what they're looking for. Others give up and go home. A few become so consumed by their quest for godliness that it kills them. For those who've never read it, I recommend Nancy Chen's book "Breathing Spaces" which discusses qigong induced mental illness and its treatment in contemporary China.

There was a thread on this a couple of weeks back - Taoist Bedchamber Arts - that includes recommended books.

talk to a TCM practioner. bring the energy down out of your head - navel / lower dan tien if you haven't already stopped your nei kung practice, do so. in the old days when I got too much energy in my crown I would do zhan zhaung standing in a stream (running water) - standing is very grounding and running water can take energy off your body. There is an interesting book "Breathing Spaces" about qigong and mental health in China. There is a certain amount of mental illness in China that results from qigong practice - the author describes the treatment by Chinese hospitals as starting with tranquilizers (thorazine, etc.) which is probably what you would get in an American medical facility. It seems to work, but I think that would not be your first choice.

fwiw, there is a thread that just started called "Nei gong induced psychosis! Please help." that seems awful relevant.

Am trying to specify a signature to be used at the end of my posts. I searched the help files and found there should be a tab in my control panel / settings, but when I visit my settings I can't find any setting for my signature. I'm on a Mac, tried Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. What am I missing? I assume it is right in front of me. Thanks.

Thanks. I'll keep on reading, visiting, and posting.

Seems like I have insufficient hit points or too much karma?? It says "Sorry you don't have permission for that. You are not permitted to modify some or all of your profile information."

Are there other related techniques as part of Shou Pai Gong or is it just the testicle hitting? Used copies of the book are around $20.

I'm with joeblast. Nope. I suspect that if you go that route, and if you don't tear or pull your PC / PB muscle as you overwork it, that what will happen is that you will still ejaculate but with less force. The PC muscle isn't the only one that contracts during ejaculation. I can't imagine you'd want to risk an injury that you'd feel every time you'd pee, everytime you'd cough or sneeze, etc. etc.

well, you are going to have a bothered life <smile>. I think to some degree or other, some part of most of what "we" believe isn't true, or hasn't been proved to be true. Most people believe heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. And believe in centrifugal force even though there is no such thing (it is centripital acceleration). Look at all the medical treatments that we undergo that do not have demonstrated benefits. Look at how our beliefs about what constitutes healthy food have changed, changed again, and continue to change - when I was a kid, butter was good. Then butter was bad, now butter is becoming good. I can't keep track of whether alcohol is good for us or bad for us. <smile> remember when we believed ulcers were caused by stress? but apparently they are caused by bacteria. I'd suggest caution with some of those absolute statements. Lots of scientists run from the truth, or run from the truth at least some of the time. Classically one must wait for the old guard to die - they don't change their opinions. Wasn't it Einstein who wouldn't believe in quantum mechanics? Scientists are just as human as the rest of us. As for Randi, I happen to have a lot of respect for Randi and am inclined to believe his point of view. I do not believe much of what I see on youtube any more than I believe what I see on TV. As far as I can tell, no one has demonstrated paranormal powers in a lab to the satisfaction of the general scientific community. And I believe in this stuff. So I'll say it again - imho all this talk of the paranormal and the supernatural is a really profitless discussion (IMHO). If you focus on it you will either not pursue the practices because of the false promises or false premises - as you can see there is no hard evidence. Alternately if you focus on the powers and do the practices for that reason you won't get them because of your goal orientation will prevent your achievement. Either way, you are screwed - because you won't get the real benefits to the practices that are easily attainable. I think there is real reason to think, to suppose, or to hypothesize, that doing Taoist practices will increase your satisfaction with yourself and your life, and probably will make you healthier. But only if you do them. And to me, that is enough reason. And if I've gotten more than that (which I have), well, hooray!

The body only produces a fixed number of sperm. What he is doing is causing his body to generate more seminal fluid, not more sperm.

Personally I've found the whole "super-powers" thing pointless. I hope this answer is useful to you. There are a lot of ancient texts which are exaggerations or metaphors or both. There are a lot of liars out there selling stuff. Magic Beans, Magic Ginseng, Secret Shaolin Qigong set. Read Dr. Palmer's bookQigong Fever. about the fraud in those qigong demos in the stadiums in China. Read the Amazing Randi (James Randi, stage magician and de-bunker). Harry Houdini loved to bust supernatural scammers too. And there are people who see stuff, and don't know what they are seeing and they make stuff up - "oh, I saw this guy, it was magic!" But if it involves a deck of cards, somehow we know that God was not involved. For me, its about what can I really say that I get from my practice. And I want real results today. The results are usually very small. Noticeable, but small. And cumulative. If I'm getting real results today then its OK with me if "woo-woo" stuff happens later. But having superpowers as a goal has never worked for me - didn't work when I was 6, didn't work when I was 36. FWIW I'm an engineer. Couple years back I did two semesters of organic chemistry for fun. Here is what I have seen that I believe. I've seen A LOT of mind reading. Had a flicker or two of it myself. Never seen anyone do it consistently. Where do you draw the line between 'exceptionally perceptive/observant' and 'mind reading'? My take-away? Be careful who you play poker with. Never seen telekinesis. I've seen people be thrown pretty f*ing hard with no apparent effort. But I think that was technique. And haven't you seen a couple of social media profile pictures have you seen of what looks like a complete moron naked except for a speedo sitting in lotus in a snow bank doing tumo? [hey, sorry, you do look like a nut to be naked in the snow - I bet it took a lot of work to do that - I couldn't even fake that photo] I've only seen one "before and after" x-ray set, and since they were my teeth and since the dentist said the cavity was gone I believed them. But that wasn't supernatural powers, that was technique. I once gave a woman in a training class so much energy she couldn't stand up (she was too blissed out). Technique. I've seen someone move his liver on command and in the direction requested by the audience. One of my instructors can move any one of his vertebrae. I've put my hand on his spine, I chose the vertebrae, I've done it multiple times. That is not supernatural, its just skill (from a lot of hours of practice). Except for the cavity - for which I am very grateful - mostly its just entertainment - the parlor tricks are the by-product of something far more profound. As Robert Heinlein sez: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

tl; dr

well, I've only had my sperm count checked once in my life, so I can't really say with any certainty if any of the techniques I've done have increased my sperm count. FWIW Dr. Stephen Chang's books contain exercises (deer exercise) and some herb information. I've had good luck with increasing my "vitality" with the deer exercise, although I don't remember whose book I got it from. Scrotal compression (Chia) (also similar technique 'the gorilla exercise') is pretty effective - and I'm assuming you know appropriate safety precautions. I've also done Bone Marrow Nei Kung which is very very very powerful but is also dangerous - it includes a pretty thorough set of crotch massages and tapping. Where are you learning "Shou Pai Gong" - is there an online source / book / etc?

whatever people recommend / whatever you decide - buy used books n DVDs when possible - cheaper - nicer for our planet. Amazon has tons o' used, or check here http://www.dealoz.com/ - used bookstore search engine. me - I don't do it to save money, I do it so I can buy more books for the same $ <smile>

T.S., maybe I'm missing something here - or maybe you are having a different experience than I have. My experience from standing and dissolving is that I sometimes get really emotional - its all OLD stuff - and as far as I can tell - once its out, it is gone. So there is no "how to deal with it" needed - its been dealt with. For example, the first layer of stuff was like an inventory of every place on my body where I'd ever been hit - since I've done a fair amount of martial arts that took a while. The only "problem" I've had is that sometimes a couple hours after standing/dissolving I would find myself full of some awful feeling - and I would just feel awful - like trying to walk uphill through 4 feet of liquid clay, with the flu. This would last for an hour or two. The first couple times I had no idea what it was, eventually I realized it was a release and it was caused by my dissolving. It took me a bit to realize I could just stand - right then - and dissolve and release that awful feeling energy. And now pretty much anytime I have a lot of unwanted emotion, I can stand and dissolve, (or sit and dissolve), and I get my equilibrium back. After a while, I've come to realize that its really true - my emotions are just body sensations, and I judge them to be good or bad. And I am not the victim of my emotions, I am not their bitch, they aren't doing it to me. this dissolving stuff is pretty f-ing awesome (imho) It doesn't seem like anything further needs to be done with the old stuff. I still have the memories, it seems like what I've done is to dissolve off the emotional energy that was bound into them. And the more I do, the more alive I feel. I am also realizing how angry I have been for so much of my life ------- *OK, neither of these guys were Taoists, but they said it better than I can: "For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." William Shakespeare, Hamlet "Men are not disturbed by things, but the view they take of things." Epictetus (55-135 A.D.) ** I am beginning to suspect that mostly I am the author and director of my own life. Damn.

Oh. good clarification. I assumed you meant "above your head, halo." When I did a lot of Fusion II & III meditations I sometimes saw halos at Taoist Summer Camp - there is a belt route that runs around the energy center above your head. I can often see my aura around my leading hand when I stand in SanTi. How to learn to see them? TheLerner already mentioned "pathnotes" - that book is a treasure trove of things you won't have time to practice <smile, joke>. Mantak Chia used to teach a set called something like '5 Finger Kung Fu' along with Buddha Palm and there is a posture "dragon gazing at phoenix" (?) that develops the ability, the Berkeley Psychic Institute teaches a non-Taoist approach.

Absolutely. There are a lot of good reasons why this stuff was kept secret.

I'm a newbie at a technique I'm sure many other people on this board know more about than I - the water method - dissolving - its spelled out in "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" and "Tao of Letting Go" - both by Bruce Frantzis. Briefly, you stand in wuji posture (google it if necessary) and slowly scan down your body starting from above your head to under your feet, where ever in your body you notice tension, blockage, strength, weakness, etc. you surround it with your attention and allow it to dissolve. If it won't dissolve, or only partially dissolves, move on. No force, no effort, just alert attentiveness. I think of it like watching a sugar cube in a glass of water - you don't have to use any effort - the water does the dissolving - infinitely gentle. Lots of stuff will come out - you just allow it to go - it dissolves. Now that I have a bit of practice at it, if a strong emotion comes up during the day I step out and stand for three or four minutes and do one pass of dissolving - that pretty much handles it now. Like most things it works better the more practice you have and the more regularly you do it.

I haven't read the multi-orgasmic man in years, but I don't recommend it. It doesn't contain the complete techniques. I recommend that you instead get Mantak Chia's previous book "Taoist Secrets of Love" which is long out of print - you can get it online for about $5. When you have the book, skim the parts that talk about the downside of ejaculating and focus on the rest. And the safety precautions. The good news is it really works. The bad news is that it requires daily practice over an extended period of time. However, the practice is, well, really fun. And you really ought to open your microcosmic orbit first. And then there are the safety precautions. You seem to be in a hurry so you may be tempted to use force and skip the safety precautions. While you are waiting for the book to arrive from Amazon/Alibris/Powells/etc, I recommend you read this essay: "the quest for spiritual orgasm" by Michael Winn, one of Mantak Chia's senior students and co-author of several of Chia's books. It describes Michael's kundalini awakening experience and the very simple method he used to get it and it talks at length about his experiences and research in many systems and many traditions about using sexual energy for spiritual growth. I've taken classes with Michael, he knows his stuff. My experience of learning the sexual practices is that it is quite difficult to stop ejaculating, and that one will "accidentally" ejaculate many many times while learning. You could decide these are valuable learning experiences or you can condemn yourself, feel bad, get depressed, and decide you are a worthless failure each time you ejaculate. None of these self-flagellating activities will have any positive effect on you what-so-ever - they won't improve your life, your energy, your practice or your spiritual development. So, you could just skip "beating yourself up" - no one hits a home run every time they are at bat.

now that is easy. Do the water method - dissolving - preferably while standing. Its amazing (even to the point of scary) what you release. But then you are free of it. ------ Your post title says you want bliss "really badly." FWIW, in my professional life it is said "if you want a deal badly enough, someone will make you a bad deal." Lots of people here are cautioning you, people who are pretty impartial. In Japanese there is an old saying "isogaba mawari" 急がば回れ- which translates approximately to "if you are in a hurry, take the long way round" or "the short cut doesn't save time". just sayin ...

wow, you sound a lot like me - restless, impatient, skeptical, undisciplined. after training in the martial arts for a while I got disciplined - and then I got into zhan zhaung standing - now I'm not so impatient and not so restless. Standing hasn't really affected me that much, but it seems like it makes the rest of the world a whole lot better. <smile> I think skeptical is good. Bliss, yeah, its out there. I've been there a few times. FWIW, bliss doesn't really change anything - if anything it makes the contrast with the rest of your life worse - its all the other stuff people are suggesting that change things. No matter where you are, you are only one step from being on the path. There is an old song "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die." Its like that.