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A few questions to get the juices flowing and a bit of inspiration if you want to jump on this thread. The more the merrier. What does your weekly training cycle look like? Do you practice everyday? Do you practice after certain activities? Do you practice before certain activities? Why? When do you practice, morning , noon , night, how does this fit why does it work for you? What is the wisdom in your routine, can you share any tricks, tips, insights etc that you have gathered over the years? Do’s Donts, Tips for beginners? Or more intermediates? Or any other little tweaks ? or profound, that spring to mind about your daily/weekly (even monthly or yearly )practice routine, Either now? Or over the years previous? Or maybe even what you are planning to do?

Dear Dao followers, We are happy to invite you all to the new courses of lectures starting May 2024 in Dao De Center. I. Traditional Texts of WuLiupai School. First time available in English! First time available for non-disciples of WuLiupai! This new course of lectures dedicated to the secret book written by The Teacher of Single Yang - modern patriarch of 21th century of the ancient WuLiupai School. This book was never published before and is revealing the deepest wisdom of WuLiupai School. The course includes the Daoist knowledge from the highest antiquity - the knowledge from the times of Lao Zi and Huang Di and at the same time the invaluable experience of modern practitioners of the genuine Daoist methods. Everyone can participate in this new course regardless if you are WuLiupai student or not. This book is being kept in the heart of WuLiupai School and this is first time is will be provided in English as a series of lectures. This course is a must for the WuLiupai practitioners, however it will be beneficial for everyone by giving a unique universal knowledge on how to improve your practice and life. So everyone is invited to join. Please invite your friends & family, co-workers and co-practitioners all people you know. Let's all get benefit from the Daoist Knowledge of Traditional WuLiupai School. WuLiupai School (The School of Wu Chongxu and Liu Huayang) initially has branched out from Longmenpai School in the 8th generation during Ming dynasty (16th-17th centuries) preserved the Daoist knowledge from Longmenpai School and accumulated the best from Buddhism and Confucianism. Schedule: Sunday 07:45 - 08:30am / UTC time Price: from 100 USD / per person / per month (in case of 20+ students attending) + payment system fee. II. The theory of Zhan Zhuang. Post-standing This course of lectures gives the most detailed analysis of all the features, difficulties, mistakes and accelerating techniques of Zhan Zhuang practice (aka "Post-Standing"). The course is built on the direct knowledge received privately from a High level Masters of Martial Arts and Daoism in China, partially based on a detailed book by the daughter of Wang Xiangzhai - the most famous master-founder of the Yiquan style, where amazing results are achieved with the help of Post-Standing. This course will allow those who practice Post-Standing to receive regular motivation to practice, become aware of and correct mistakes in personal practice and learn effective techniques that enhance and simplify the practice, and for those who do not practice, gain a detailed understanding and principles of correct inner work, learn the energetic functioning of the human body and get familiar with human body capabilities and what achievements could be attained with Post-Standing practice. Schedule: Sunday 07:00 - 07:45am / UTC time Price: from 105 USD / per person / per month (in case of 20+ students attending) + payment system fee. To know the details and ask questions please contact Dao De Center directly: Email: [email protected] Skype: daode-world1 Phone: +7 921 377 88 01 (whatsapp/telegram/viber)

Dear Dao followers, We are happy to invite you all to the new courses of lectures starting May 2024 at Dao De Center! (LIVE Online via Zoom) Traditional Texts of WuLiupai School We have two HUGE firsts: For the First time ever, the traditional texts of the WuLiupai School are now available in English AND also available for non-disciples of the WuLiupai School! This new course of lectures is from to the secret book written by The Teacher of Single Yang - modern patriarch of 21th century of the Ancient Daoist WuLiupai School. This book was never published before and is revealing the deepest wisdom of WuLiupai School. The course includes the Daoist knowledge from the highest antiquity - the knowledge from the times of Lao Zi and Huang Di and at the same time the invaluable experience of modern practitioners of the genuine Daoist methods. Everyone can participate in this new course regardless if you are WuLiupai student or not. This book is being kept inside the heart of the WuLiupai School and this is first time it will be provided in English as a series of lectures. This course is a must for the WuLiupai practitioners, however it will be beneficial for everyone by giving a unique universal knowledge on how to improve your practice and life. So everyone is invited to join! Please invite your friends & family, co-workers and co-practitioners all people you know. Let's all get benefit from the Daoist Knowledge of Traditional WuLiupai School. The WuLiupai School (The School of Wu Chongxu and Liu Huayang) initially branched out from Longmenpai School in the 8th generation during the Ming dynasty (16th-17th centuries) and preserved the Daoist knowledge from Longmenpai School and accumulated the best Teachings from Buddhism and Confucianism. Schedule: Sunday 07:45 - 08:30am / UTC time - Please use the time converter below to find your timezone https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20240505T074500&p1=tz_gmt&p2=240&p3=195&p4=179&p5=215&p6=213 Price: from 100 USD / per person / per month (in case of 20+ students attending) + payment system fee. For additional details and questions please contact Dao De Center directly via email Email: [email protected] Skype: daode-world1 Phone: +7 921 377 88 01 (whatsapp/telegram/viber)

Lets make things clear for all new members to come. How does the alchemy of internal alchemy work in your practice? Don't give me a simple answer like the "one makes two and two becomes three" sort of BS, give a reasonable answer. For an example: How the alchemy works in my theology; you use the sense of touch/feeling to guide the mixed energy of the three treasures called "vital energy", to form the circuit of the spiritual body. The sense of touch/feeling is retrieved by the brain so you start from the head (Shen). Form the head circuit and Shen area with vital energy. When head circuit and Shen area is done, form the meridian that is connected to where you store the mixed vital energy, in the Qi area. Once there is enough vital energy in the Qi area, use it to form the circuit of the chest and upper back. When chest and upper back circuit as well as the Qi area is done, form the meridian that is connected to where you store the mixed vital energy, in the Jing area. Once there is enough vital energy in the Jing area, use it to form the circuit of the belly and lower back. After all that, you would need a filtering technique to sort out the mixed vital energy into the areas they belong (Shen, Qi, Jing). This technique should start from Qi and not Shen because Qi is Balance of Yin and Yang (therefore: Qi, Jing and then Shen). And at last you'll need a refinement technique (which is what you are most likely doing with your Qigong). You starts from Jing because the nature of Jing is Yang and that refinement of the three treasure can be done similar to what is seen in a distillation diagram. Remember to include as much details and reasoning you can, so that others can fully grasp it.

If I meditate on the Real Lower Dan Tian during regular sitting meditation, will that build up and store Qi there? Is that an effective approach to filling the Real Lower Dan Tian?

Hello, I would like to introduce myself properly by giving my related background in regards to internal alchemy, which is what i am about... I started out with the religion of my parents until early teenage years, became agnostic as it didnt matter to me and later on picked up interest in Christendom. Not having any preconceived notions about anything Christian by external teachings... and reading the book on my own, I came to other conclusions than those that are mainstream. My understanding or interpretation has evolved multiple times, after which I took a step back and realized that relying on interpretation, understanding, knowledge or reasoning is not enough and can be misleading. That was the main point that made me stop trying to reach God with the intellect, but start walking the path of the mystic (experiencing God > knowing God). One day, I had a very interesting experience, which changed everything. I sat on my bed or I was lying, I dont know and had a moment where I totally surrendered to "God", giving up my life, basically, saying its all yours and meaning it and fully giving up... As I was lying there, my body started to burn hot. Internal waves of goosebumps emerged that came in waves, stronger and stronger, and overtook my entire body. If I was to describe it, I would say my body was in blazing, overwhelming, invisible fire, which did not burn me, but which I could sense! At that moment, I had no clue what was happening, but nowadays, I think I know... anyway, as it was happening, I was thinking of God's embrace, of verses like "God is a burning fire" which does not burn, things of that nature, which intensified the whole experience... IIRC, it kept going for 2-3 minutes, give or take and then i went to sleep. I never paid more attention or taught to it, but nowadays, I think it was a key event in my energetic unfolding - i think it started it all. Anyway, I evolved from Christianity by becoming a perennialist, due to my mystical/esoteric approach to the bible. I discovered non-duality, first in the bible, then noticed how other traditions, mainly buddhism (secretly) and advaita vedanta (openly) are teaching the same thing. I realized that "God" is not personal, but rather impersonal and more than that, that God's identity, which I knew was "ineffable" - somethign that did not make much sense to me, was beyond concepts, language or reason, making me understand the ineffible-ness of God's identity. It transcends the intellect or speech, the Tao that can be talked or written about, is not the real Tao... The buddhists call it the void or emptiness.. The evolution of my understanding has been happening in multiple strands, in parallel. The main strand or framework I was working with, was alchemical Christianity (occultism), but I was open minded so I was pursuing other maps or frameworks like budhism and yoga (of patanjali) to better understand what they were all pointing at. As a perennialist, I view God as a mountain-top, with different starting points having different paths (potentially-) all leading to the same top, or trying to, at least. From Christendom, I understood that the way to God is by "Christ" alone - which is an occultish way to say that celibacy is sine-quo-non. This knowledge has been esoterically distilled from a few things...: - the allegory of the fall of Adam & Eve, who "ate" from the forbidden "tree" placed in the "midst of the garden". ther is a verse that says one should come to a conclusion on a matter by taking multiple witnesses in court cases, but esoterically speaking, this is referring to textual interpretation - so, there is another place (Proverbs 30:20) which says "the whore eats and wipes her mouth and says she has done nothing wrong", showing and indicating that "eating" = sex, making the allegory of Adam & Eve all about sex, as they also "ate".. making the forbidden tree the genitelia, the garden the center of the human body etc. - allegory of Christ's crcufixition - being crucified at the age of "33" in "golgotha" is code for the spine, which has 33 vertebrates and the human skull: "golgotha" literally means "place of skull" - the word "Christ" means anointing or oil, in the original, its "cristos" - this is the same "oil" of the parable of the 10 virgins, all of whom seek to enter the "kindgom of God" (deciphered: samadhi/jhana), 5 wise having "oil" in their lantern, 5 foolish who dont have "oil" and cant enter during the dark night (meditation) - the Christ (anointing, oil, essence, "jing"), which came from above ("Most High" / "God" - aka the brain, pituary/pineal) must also go up the same way it came down - by being accepted (celibacy) and not rejected (sexual indulgence) - "to know" meaning to have sex and the saying "know thyself" occultishly referring to self-frucitication (internal alchemy).. Equipped with this knowledge, I practiced mainly 2 things: - meditation - celibacy (both of which are simply non-doings, now that I think about it - I did not "do" those things, I rather stopped "doing" in both instances xD the yoke of Christ is easy after all...) The form of meditation I practiced was what Buddha described in the anapana-sati sutta. Awareness of the breath. By "breath", I mean the false breath - the mechanism by which we suck in air. These days, my main interpretation for "breath" in occult or spiritual ancient texts is Chi automatically, because you can breath chi as well. Sooner or later, I discovered that I can voluntarily cause piloerection, in short - create goosebumps voluntarily with my breath. I now understand this as chi-control. Initially I did not understand the significance of it and ignored it, but thanks to articles I found here and elsewhere, correlating it with the other knowledge I have, I think its the key to all of it.. The comment I am referring to is this one: Having spent some time here and having read about xing and ming (a 60+ page pdf called "Destiny, Vital Force, or Existence? On the Meanings of Ming in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing or Human Nature by Fabrizio Pregadio"), I think I now have somewhat of a better understanding of what the process is really all about. (I am still not hipp to the taoist lingo, but i am trying xD) And I find myself more leaning towards Taoism or rather, internal alchemy (neidan) than any other framework, as its the most straight forward and the one that makes most sense to me personally, assuming you know what the cryptic elements mean. All spiritual texts are cryptic, but if you have a little bit of progress or related knowledge to compare it to, you can usually make sense of it... or delude yourself you are undersanding them, lol xD Here is my current understanding ,which is ever-evolving: - Meditation (false xing exercise, post-heaven xing?) creates true ming (chi movement, awareness of chi, voluntary piloerection), when the body and mind are completely and 100% relaxed (no movement: physical stillness and 0 muscle tension + no thoughts) - True Ming & its exercise (chi-gong, taichi, external movements but paying 80% attention to the movement of the chi internally, not the physical form or movement) is what charges the battery at the core of the human system and allows for true xing (jhanic absoprtion, samadhi, emptiness) to occur The anapanasati sutta is ingenious in the way, that it contains both elements. You progress from the breath of air to the breath of chi all naturally. Once you do celibacy or become a monk and then completely relax the body and mind for a while, you feel start feeling the pulsations of chi in your body (mainly abdomen), which are exponentially intensified through celibacy.. and sooner or later, acquire control over them. You start feeling light-orgasmic sensations in your abdomen when you fully relax and meditate! This is the bliss of the secluded monks, Buddha talked about, who were entering Jhana! When the breath is traced down, which naturally occurs, as you can not focus your attention to the nose-tip as mainstream buddhist teachers teach, because you have let go of all control (even awareness) to achieve stillness, bodily and mentally, awareness itself will natural latch on to the breath and follow it down to the belly. in the belly, when the breath is slow (long), heat sensations will start to form near the belly button and it will heat up. this natural xing-approach can be simulated by a ming approach of doing reverse breathing and intentionally moving chi (voluntary piloerection) to the belly region. visualizing energy moving in from your limbs like electricity down into your belly helps a lot. 2 different approaches, but the same effect. i think once this center is charged sufficiently, it spills over to higher regions which is when supernatural phenomena are gonna start occurring around you, usually unintentionally and without control... perhaps you can gain control, but I am not that far yet and I am not really interested, tbh... i could not make sense of it either, it seems that certain physical phenomena occur, when there is a "delta" in awareness, say you are at 50% of stillness or emptiness (random number) and then you drop to 49% or jump to 51% abruptly for whatever reason, this has a ripple effect on physical reality. this is the best way I can describe it and I could not induce it by will, it happens on its own or is out of control... i could not attribute it to anything else, because its hard to "think" while not thinking or being completely still.. so when the phenomena occur, it rips me out of emptiness completely when i try to make sense of it, completely stopping the whole process! i think thinking (mental movements) are too coarse for supernatural phenomena - you have to have a super subtle mind with super subtle movements during stillness, to (probably) intentionally induce these things. and even then, how would you do that, when you have to let go of all things to reach such levels of stilness (non-doing)? how to do while not doing? i have no idea... its super complex and I have no one to really talk to about these things, except perhaps you guys! I believe that dual-cultivation is necessary and complementary to each other, cultivating both energy (chi movement) + stillness (100% body/mind relaxation, no wavering at all, no movement of any sort). Christ may have been a taoist, btw., having said what he said in the gospel of Thomas verse 50, in regards to where we come from: > (50) Jesus says: > (1) “If they say to you: ‘Where do you come from?’ (then) say to them: ‘We have come from the light, the place where the light has come into being > by itself, has established [itself] and has appeared in their image.’ > (2) If they say to you: ‘Is it you?’ (then) say: ‘We are his children, and we are the elect of the living Father.’ > (3) If they ask you: ‘What is the sign of your Father among you?’ (then) say to them: ‘It is movement and repose.’” Movement (ming) and repose (stillness) or yang and yin, etc.. The Tao (stillness, void, emptiness, nothingness) spontaneously created unity (golden elixier, the unification of yin and yang) which split into duality (yin and yang), which procreated the 3rd (mother+father=child) and from this process came all the things (10.000 things)... so its about uniting duality, merging movement with stillness, action in non-action, doing in non-doing or non-doing in doing - i think this is what wuwei refers to, ultimately. effortless action is born, when both yin and yang merged into one. no one can do this, except the exalted ones, the taoist immortals, the boddhisattvas, the saints, etc. etc. intentionally. in regards to internal alchemy, I think this refers to controlling energy while being in stillness. its kinda paradoxical, how is there a "doing" (yang, chi-control) in "non-doing" (meditation, yin). i think the answer is: spontaneity - its a natural phenomenon, its not you, who does anything, it is something which follows a certain law and happens on its own on the path of cultivation. i think this is what has been depicted in the yin and yang symbol, where there is a dot of the opposite in each one of them. yang has a dot of yin and yin has a dot of yang, as they both complement each other and one induces the other. they are tightly knit together, one could argue they are the two sides of the same coin... And Jesus also talked about how to create the golden elixier, allthough cryptically, in verse 106, for example: > (106) Jesus says: > (1) “When you make the two into one, you will become sons of man. > (2) And when you say ‘Mountain, move away,’ it will move away.” (sons of man is a title for offspring of the perfect one, the first "man" aka Adam, who was 100% perfect before the fall) Anyway, there are many traditions and many esoteric sayings, which I have not referenced outright, which point at this general direction. The muslims "pray" (repetition of words; mantra meditation) by placing their hands on their belly buttons and doing a few stretching movements.. i think its a veiled form of internal alchemy! In general, the abrahamic flavors seem to use the formula: celibacy + xing practice (or non-practice, lol, letting go, non-doing). I think this is called xing before ming in taoism. Xing before ming, in true christendom, evolves into xing with ming at the same time, once ming becomes doable due to xing cultivation - as one other daobummer once pointed out in a completely different context but still related: "how can a pianist play the piano, if he has no hands? he first needs to cultivate and have hands.. hence the higher teachings are secret or only given to those who qualify.." something along those lines - which makes sens in this context as well - how can you do ming work, if you are not aware of your chi and can not move it. So I am of the "xing before ming" school, allthough nowadays I practice both at the same time, beceause I "grew hands", so to speak.. ---- I am grateful for this community, there are many nuggets of wisdom and lots of interesting discussions. I am happy to be able to be part of it, allthough I am one who prefers personal, direct experience over theories, its still nice to have a few ideas or different POVs... and more importantly, likeminded people!

I started as a Buddhist practicioner cause I read on a reddit forum how Jhanas could increase human intelligence. For some reason as young as I could remember I always felt humans could be better and we were not using our full mental power. At some point I came across Daoism. I found their extremely datailed and logical approach quite fascinating. And in studying daoism I came across Bill Bodri who seemed to equate the 2 different traditions. It almost seems like they are doing the same thing through different approaches. Someone said the buddhism achieves freedom from karma or enlightenment by making ones consciousness egoless while daoism seems to make ones consciousness so powerful that its karma cant pull it back to earth what they would call the yang shen. Furthermore the jhanas and the transformation of the three treasures were seen as the same thing were first jhana body is full of jing hence the pleasure or what they call piti and sukkha. In second Jhana the jing transforms into chi. Hence the feeling of joy and loss of body awareness, By third jhana the chi turns to shen. Hence the contentment. By fourth jhana you reach emptiness. Hence the equanmity. Then the immaterial jhanas where one breaks the emptiness. And finally enlightenment where one unites with the Dao. What do you giys think?

I started reading taoist yoga and i must say all the nei dan information dont look like instructions to me. They look like biographical information of the alchemical changes of the energy body as one cultivates towards samadhi. There are too much steps and processes to be aware of that I believe alchemy infromation was more like sign posts that your on the right track rather than steps to actually follow. I mean there are easier ways like anapanasati and skeleton visualization from the buddha or samatha(concentration) practices in general. Instead of the risky practice that is alchemy. And yes you can not achieve samadhi without alchemical changes happening inside you. Else it would be false samadhi. Nan Hua Chin said that samadhi without change in your body is a false teaching that has infected buddhism especially zen. He encourages people to learn about alchemy only to use it as a referral that they are on the right track rather than an instruction manual. His book Tao & Longevity: Mind-Body Transformation shows how alchemical changes happen in the body using practices like anapanasati from the buddha. He says its based on the rule of the dao that extreme yin gives birth to yang. So the stillness from anapanasati where at some point you slow down to the point of having your breath, pulse and thoughts stop(hsi), gives birth to the yang chi being born. No need for all the alchemical jargon just slow down and become still and the internal alchemy will take place. its like our bodies mimicking creation. Where from wuji came taiji and from taiji came yang chi of heaven. The secret of immortality. It has also been said in yoga that physical immortals are in samadhi 24/7 hence they are constantly in touch with the yang qi of heaven. So if alchemy is just another way to samadhi or wuji why do Daoist treat it like its some super secret when there are even safer and less cumbersome ways of getting to samadhi. After all the emptiness is called nirvikalpa samadhi in other traditions.

https://www.amazon.com/LET-GO-PRACTICES-SPIRITUAL-ASCENSION/dp/B09DMTQZVQ/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Hey, all. I've been here a long time and this is the book I wish I would have had when I first started my Eastern spiritual journey. Book excerpt: THE TAOIST ALCHEMY OF 100 DAYS BUILDING THE FOUNDATION MY PREPARATION Diet – I ate no meat, but I ate eggs, fish, and dairy. Meditation – Emptiness four times a day for twenty minutes to an hour until July, then I was doing 8-12 hours of meditation a day, which included several hours of Taiji. The Firing Process – After having gathered enough qi in the lower dan tien through a good diet, Taiji practice, and meditation, you need to “fire” it so it moves upwards and transforms into shen. Normally, the firing process happens naturally if you have enough desire or if you’re young or going through puberty. If your older, you will need an outside agent, and this has been one of the greatest secrets of alchemy in the east and west. Three things fire the qi, and that is pain which means ascetic practices such as self-flagellation, sexual arousal without ejaculation such as is found in Tantra and fasting. Any will work, but use sexual stimulation only on days you do the breathwork. Fasting should be extreme, but don’t kill yourself, and if you’re going to use pain, then do it every day. Breathwork – Bone breathing with closed eyes lasting twenty minutes once a day, and I did this several times a week but not every day. This is done by inhaling ten times into your belly and focusing on pulling qi into your belly on each inhale and storing it on the exhale. Then with an inhale, draw the qi from your dan tien to the bones of your left hand. Exhale and visualized compacting the qi all the way into the marrow. Do this same routine in all your bones, starting next with your left forearm, upper arm, right hand, right forearm, right upper arm, left foot, left lower leg, left upper leg, right foot, left lower leg, left upper leg, pelvic bone, collar bone, spine, jawbone and lastly cranium. Then ten more deep breaths, drawing qi into your dan tien, and on both the inhale and exhale, draw the qi up your spine and into your head to lead it to the pineal gland at the center of the brain. After the last ten breaths, you should hold your focus on your pineal with your attention, and it should feel like you are “reverse gazing.” My 100 Days Start: April 24, 1994 (Full Moon) I practiced the firing, and then I practiced bone breathing with breathing energy up my spine and then in meditation and had a powerful vision of interior light. Every time my perineum would begin to pump furiously, the interior light would blaze forth before my inner vision. June 8, 1994 (New Moon) I did the firing process and then the bone breathing. While breathing energy up my spine, the perineum began pumping with pressure/pain was felt in the third eye area. My testicles were also in pain. I was using forced willpower to move the energy up the spine. I tried to relax but couldn’t. I tried to leave my body several times unsuccessfully. Then I seemed to come out of my forehead. It was like I was in a little body a couple of inches tall. I could only get out of my forehead up to my waist. 100 Days End: July 27, 1994 It was incredible. My normal vision was replaced with a new vision. Instead of seeing with my fleshly eyes, I became aware I was seeing from my spiritual center, my soul. This spiritual center within me was the same spiritual center within all things. This “Unity” filled me with awe and peace. I also seemed to be eternally caught up in the now. I wasn’t thinking or feeling anymore. I was just being. Looking at the trees did not reveal leaves and bark. I saw an explosion of light. It began where the seed sprouted originally. The explosions then flowed upwards and downwards. I saw into the earth. It was a golden-hued transparency. The trees were like flowing golden fountains of living light that were continually being born anew every moment. It seemed purely accidental that water and dirt were carried along with the exploding fiery light. It did not diminish the glory of it in any way, though. I thought modern science was absurd because it studies the accidental shadow and not the actual substance. I knew everything from the beginning of time. I saw it all. At the same time, I was so peace-filled that I did not desire to know anything. With this expanded perspective, human understanding of everything, including metaphysics, seemed worthless. All the books I had read paled miserably in comparison to this. All the spiritual anguish I had been experiencing for the past few weeks vanished. I felt desireless, completely free, and at peace with all. It was as if I woke up and was seeing reality for the first time. I was released from this universe of light after a few minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7a7z2HvvL0&ab_channel=DarinHamel

As the title says, here's a short creative piece on the interesting and mysterious relationship between playing cards and alchemy. I had noticed there was very little available on the subject and therefore decided to compile something of my own. Enjoy! Link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bsxsw37k1le5P3R-pS7SYrRsIvpv7XGl/view

So I was wondering is it possible to see someone s qi aura and his qi in medirians and check how your progress go and if you are doing mistakes or have blockages in your training all from a distance via video chat or tho ????

Hi I was wondering if I eat I could go do alchemy training or I have to wait for some time until food absorbed ot what I am still in foundations level and building Dan Tien and thanks for help guys

Hi I had a question about something I wanna make it clear cuz there is alot of deffrent opinions about it Before starting cultivation should one train his physical body to a good point first or no ?? I have heared and read from some people u should train you body as it would tighten the medirian and make qi travel harder and block it etc ........ At same time I heared you should train you body well to near limit to your body can handle and store qi and when body reach limit it have enough reserves in Dan Tien to start cultivation and store qi So which opinion is right and thanks

Was wondering if anyone had info regarding phosphorus as a stage in internal alchemy, similar to mercury/cinnabar or lead in daoist alchemy? Supposedly phosphorus was useful for its 'trapped light'.

Hello Friends, This is my first post. I wanted to join thedaobums in the hope of possibly making some new friends and contacts, as well as engage in some good discussions about the site's many interesting topics. I've been a "lurker" for a while, and I have found this forum to be the most dynamic, eclectic and diverse of the several that I have belonged to which deal with related topics (dharmawheel and some esoteric forums). Anyway, my background is itself eclectic, and I'm increasingly having a difficult time fitting myself into a label, without, at the same time, being able or desirous of "rejecting" anything that I may have identified with in the past. On the whole, I think this is a good thing, as I see a major goal of the spiritual path as being able to transcend labels and "identities." At the same time, I'm finding it quite uncomfortable. It's like a man having 3 or 4 families which don't know or acknowledge each other, each of whom he loves deeply as "part of himself"; he is unable to live with any of them all the time, but unable to part with any of them in an absolute sense; at the same time, he has a sense that what he is truly seeking lies outside the very category of "family" (if this metaphor makes sense). With this in mind, I'm reluctant to call myself a "Buddhist," or "not a Buddhist," a "Christian," or "not a Christian," a "Taoist," or "not a Taoist," etc. Over the past five years, I've been deeply immersed in the Western Esoteric Tradition, particularly centred around the ideas of Renaissance magi such as Agrippa, Dee, Bruno, the Rosicrucians, as well as Swedenborg, Boehme and the (non-Blavatskian) Western Theosophical tradition, while also finding many limitations in their points of view and needing to supplement this with study of the more metaphysical traditions of the East--Buddhism, Taoism and Trika Shaivism. But then increasingly I can't find what I'm seeking in any one of these traditions to the exclusion of others. I see them all, perhaps, as "upayas": skillful means to lead deluded beings to liberation. Despite all the arguments I have read and participated in over the philosophical subtleties of what precisely this "liberation" entails, I still naturally incline to this general universalistic view. I'm fond of Crowley (again while acknowledging his limitations), and I think that he was on to something (inspired) by his realization that one needed to break through externally imposed labels, restrictions, and identities and discover one's own "Holy Guardian Angel" in order to truly move forward. I think he was mistaken on many levels, but this idea that one needs to, as it were, make one's own tradition (in his case, Thelema) rings true for me, personally. If one doesn't, one is more or less the victim of centuries/millennia of historical and scholastic traditions which may have nothing to do with one's real quest. I know how much he suffered (and made others to suffer) in pursuing this ideal, however. Still, in a sense I consider myself a "independent Thelemite"--"independent" because I do not consider AC's personal revelations, mythos or ideas regarding the different Aeons (interesting as they may be) as binding on anyone other than himself. I think it could be argued that there is a "thelema," properly understood, hidden within each if the world's great religious/spiritual traditions, including Christianity and Islam (vide Corbin). I also disagree with Crowley regarding the importance of compassion and even pity; the Bodhisattva ideal is one of the most noble and glorious conceptions that I am aware of. Practically, I have more and more withdrawn from outward religious rites and turned towards silent, objectless meditation. The other, more active side of my spiritual practice involves Bardonian Hermetics, and a sort of streamlined angelic theurgy. Still, I feel like I've been stagnating for some time and I feel a strong need to break new ground. This is why I have increasingly turned towards the possibilities of astral projection (or "journeying") as a means of contacting higher Wisdom beings to help me move forward. My abilities are still weak at best. In this connection, the recent discovery of Qigong and energy work in general has been a great help. I never talk about this stuff to anyone. The anonymity of this site encourages me to share in the hope of finding like minded fellow-travelers. This is the reason I have written this long and regrettably egotistical post. I am what we might call "esoterically isolated," outwardly living a workaday life with a family, and without any associates beyond two or three distant contacts. I got "burned out" long ago on spiritual organazations and groups, and prefer the way of the hermit, at least until circumstances shift and other possibilities arise (I can't rule it out). Still, I am looking forward to hopefully learning and sharing whatever I can with friends here. Thanks :-)

26:11what do you guys think the other ingredients are and do you believe this experience is alike the one mentioned in Buddhist texts where monks are prepared for death before death or even in the Wang Lipin's book Opening the Dragon Gate (which most of you might already be familiar with) where a special concoction was given to Wan Lipin by his masters and he was able to access the realm where the dead go. I'm looking for your opinion as to these rituals and whether you know about the alchemy related to this or other similar formulas. There was another piece of material that comes to mind when discussing the experience of alchemy; The book "The Red Lion" by Maria Szepes. Thank you Edit: I just realized this topic may be better in the off grid forum. Hope this topic isnt too hardcore for this thread.

Hello Guys Im curious if any of you have experimented with herbal formulas and fasting. I myself have not however had read some books on the subject so I thought I'd open a thread for everyone to share formulas and what effect they had from it. What the intended use and how to make or cook the ingredients. Thank you

Hey Dao Bums - One of my friends currently studying in Taiwan at NTU is currently 1/3rd through translating Professor Ge Guolong's (戈國龍) 2010 book, "Ten Discourses on Daoist Alchemy". It's a an enlightening commentary on alchemy texts written by a professor of religion at the China Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. It's a major undertaking for my friend because the book is over 140,000 Chinese characters long. He has the backing of Red Pine, who most people on DaoBums will know, being the author of the best selling translation of the Tao Te Ching in English. Because this would take months of dedicated work, most likely in seclusion, he recently set up a Gofundme page in case anybody was interested in backing the project, and enjoying early access perks, things like that. Personally, I'm very excited about it because the book is a bridge between philosophy and practice. From the samples I was shown, I found Professor Guolong's writing to be super clear, and a breath of fresh air compared to other esoteric alchemy manuals like "Taoist Yoga" for example. Instead of making you feel more confused, the text reads like an elucidation and makes alchemy directly understandable and accessible to the modern Chinese and now Western mind. I can also highly recommend my friend as an outstanding translator (having lived in China for a decade), and a wonderful spiritual cultivator. I can also vouch for the value of these texts for your own cultivation. Here is an outline of the chapters for example, but you will find more information on his official page. Chapter outline 1. Unsurpassed Destiny 2. Illuminating the Mind to See Its True Nature 3. The Portal of the Mysterious Pass 4. Advancing the Fire and Gathering the Medicine 5. Empty, Nonexistent Qi 6. Dual Cultivation of Xing and Ming 7. Primordial Jing and Primordial Shen 8. Two Heavens and Earths 9. Going Back to the Root, Returning to the Source 10. Universe and Individual, Interconnected As was posted in the Daoist sub-section, we really need more translators of Chinese texts like this. Think about how many of Master Nan Huai Chin's books still haven't been translated in English for example, and how valuable each and everyone is to our community at Dao Bums. The truth is there are no translators working on them. And the reason is that you need a very high level of Chinese and you also to be an advanced practitioner of these arts. The market is so small that it's not even worth the time and effort from a financial standpoint for the people who meet this criteria. So when someone is motivated to take months out of his life to complete a project like this, just so we all benefit, I think we should encourage it, at least as Dao Bums. Thumbs up from me.

I want to talk about my experience with Heartfulness. Now, I'm not talking about the form from Mindfulness in the book "Cultivating Heartfulness" that I've seen spoken about around Daobums, but something different that has completely changed the way I cultivate. Most of us are practitioners or at least know of the refining processes of cultivating and internal alchemy. We all know it to be an excruciatingly long and arduous process to refine our internal energies in order to produce measurable results. I have always been drawn to daoist practices from a young age and would meditate without even really knowing what it was, it just felt nice. But i didn't start officially Cultivating until just after college but i was underwhelmed by how little return you get for so much effort. I had processed far enough to have formed my Dantian and refined my senses enough to be able to detect spiritual energies and their movement. However, then i encountered a practice called Heartfulness that utilizes Yogic Transmission and this put my cultivation into hyperdrive! It would normally take me about two weeks to take in qi, extract the impurities, refine it into a higher form, and condense it into a pearl to draw up into the second dantian. But with Heartfulness, i was able to complete that entire process in One Day while i was At Work! I don't sit behind a desk, i work at UPS. I'm constantly moving and i was able to refine a pearl almost Passively while i was constantly busy. It felt like as long as i was doing Heartfulness, the energy would move Intelligently on its own to complete work within me, automatically. After a week of this, my body became stronger. I was able to walk around in 40 degree weather in shorts and a teashirt without getting cold and things that would normally hurt or bruise me would hardly hurt at all. I wanted to share this with my brothers here on Daobums so that you all could give it a try and share your results here! It's completely free, all the teachers are volunteers. https://heartfulness.org/us/masterclass/- This is the three-part video series that introduces the practice and helps you experience the transmission. https://heartfulness.org/us/experience-heartfulness/- You can follow this link and scroll down to “Try Heartfulness with Assistance” for a more personal experience with a real person rather than a video series, though I do recommend the video series first.

I want to talk about my experience with Heartfulness. Now, I'm not talking about the form from Mindfulness in the book "Cultivating Heartfulness" that I've seen spoken about around Daubums, but something different that has completely changed the way I cultivate. Most of us are practitioners or at least know of the refining processes of cultivating and internal alchemy. We all know it to be an excruciatingly long and arduous process to refine our internal energies in order to produce measurable results. I have always been drawn to daoist practices from a young age and would meditate without even really knowing what it was, it just felt nice. But i didn't start officially Cultivating until just after college but i was underwhelmed by how little return you get for so much effort. I had processed far enough to have formed my Dantian and refined my senses enough to be able to detect spiritual energies and their movement. However, then i encountered a practice called Heartfulness that utilizes Yogic Transmission and this put my cultivation into hyperdrive! It would normally take me about two weeks to take in qi, extract the impurities, refine it into a higher form, and condense it into a pearl to draw up into the second dantian. But with Heartfulness, i was able to complete that entire process in One Day while i was At Work! I don't sit behind a desk, i work at UPS. I'm constantly moving and i was able to refine a pearl almost Passively while i was constantly busy. It felt like as long as i was doing Heartfulness, the energy would move Intelligently on its own to complete work within me, automatically. After a week of this, my body became stronger. I was able to walk around in 40 degree weather in shorts and a teashirt without getting cold and things that would normally hurt or bruise me would hardly hurt at all. I wanted to share this with my brothers here on Daobums so that you all could give it a try and share your results here! It's completely free, all the teachers are volunteers. https://heartfulness.org/us/masterclass/- This is the three-part video series that introduces the practice and helps you experience the transmission. https://heartfulness.org/us/experience-heartfulness/- You can follow this link and scroll down to “Try Heartfulness with Assistance” for a more personal experience with a real person rather than a video series, though I do recommend the video series first.

I have almost finished "A record of the assembled immortals and gathered perfected of the Western hills", translated by Richard Bertschinger. I have read other books on daoist cultivation. The Eva Wong collection (gave it away, years ago), the Cleary collection (gathers dust on the shelf), Pregradio translations, and so on(You get the picture). I even printed out a copy of Voids favourite. At the time I read them, most (with the exception of Wang Mu Foundations of internal alchemy) were totally in comprehensive. This book is different. It actually explains stuff instead of piling codewords higher and deeper. And, perhaps because my practice has evolved considerably the last few years, I also have an idea of what the core ideas is about. I cannot say that my idea is what the authors tradition had in mind, so I will not state that I am having a dawning understanding of Nei Dan. But there is a considerable amount of the content in this book that fits very well with my practice. I would recommend beginners to buy this one, and Wang Mu's book, before trying to dive in the more known classics. I will read it again.

I'm about to get this book and I really want other's opinion about the information inside. How truthfull is it. Does it correspond with other books about similar teachings?

Hello everyone, my name is metabee17 and I'm interested in lots of the topics in this forum.

Hello Everyone, Thanks for letting me join with you daoist bums. Just to let you know that a complete daoist cosmology is being revealed on the internet. Extracts from the contemporary work 'Mimi Neike' are appearing on the website www.masteracupuncture.co.uk Just go to the secret medicine webpage and you can find out about the secret of life, the secret of your life and of course the secret internal medicine that is the subject of the work. Enjoy.