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Hello once again recently I have been reading Taoist Yoga_ Alchemy and immortality, I was wondering on peoples idea of the book and the practices It held I saw that there isnt much on taoist yoga on here so I thought we could discuss it? Maybe?

Dear friends, In other threads I've already shared many of my personal experiences (I'll link these below). What I'm looking for now is to exchange experiences, information, teachers, herbs, mantras, mudras, methods etc. in this area. I would really love to hear your stories, your experiences, about your teachers and their methods. It's quite a controversial topic, but it's also quite an interesting topic Here are the links to my former threads: In this thread I've shared many of my personal experiences with this somewhat controversial topic: I've shared a bit more personal experiences in the second post here:

Hello everyone, so glad to finally have joined this site after reading so much on the forums. It's been a rough road for me the past several years, and reading the Daodejing and beginning to meditate seriously and attempt to be present in the moment has been an experience I never thought possible. I used to be very heavily into drugs, mainly benzo medication. I was a Roman Catholic who always thought of spirituality in large concepts, rather than in an experiential way. Everything during this period of my life was intellectual, moral, with very little understanding of myself, or the world around me. It was like being a prisoner trapped in my own mind, unable to unhinge myself from the concept of myself. When I first went on a meditation retreat, I chose to start with what I knew. It landed me at a Benedictine Monastery in New Jersey. The most important thing I began to learn there, was something that I never knew truly existed, compassion. It was not a concept that I was familiar with, giving it, and also receiving it. That began my spiritual journey which I am ever so grateful for. The Order of St. Benedict led me to begin reading about the teachings of Jesus, rather than just the Church's conceptualization of them. Once I began understanding that Christ wanted people to live like him, and to be loving and kind, compassionate, simply for the sake of being so, my eyes began to open. It was only then I began to look to the East, where I found the Daodejing. This led me to a serious practice of meditation, which I still try to incorporate into my day as often as I can. I began to feel lighter, in some ways, where my mind began to clear, and I was less and less affected by the concepts that I once identified with. It was painful, and it was filled with anxiety. There was a storm brewing in my mind, in my body, and in my essence, a storm that eventually quelled. I went from being a lone man on a boat, drifting on the ocean without an idea of where I was going or what I was doing, to realizing that I was the ocean, and that we are all the ocean. A little about myself personally. I am 24 years old and I study history, I am starting school again in September and I'm hoping to finish my undergraduate degree before moving on to my graduate degree. I live in New Jersey and I enjoy fishing, hiking, and anything to do with the outdoors. I enjoy going out with friends, and going out to restaurants and bars to experience new things, and new people. I'm so glad to be able to discuss things with a group of people who enjoy and try to live a life in balance with nature and those around us. I hope to become more open, and engage in discussions on the forums. I hope that I can be a good contributing member to Dao Bums. Thanks for having me everyone and I hope to speak to some of you soon!

Hello, i was wondering what came first, a belief or an experience. some people say that we experience first and according to what we experience we form a belief. and other people say, that the belief creates our reality and thus our experience. Some may argue as kids we experience and then we start building beliefs according to what we feel. but other do argue that we come to the world with beliefs, that can be considered Karma inherited from our past life. What do you think, what came first? Can we experience something that we have opposite belief of ? What are the determinants of our reality ? what determines what we experience or situations that arises in our reality?

One day I was doing some spiritual work with a friend of mine and in the process entered the astral plane. In that plane, I found a tall skinny man with mustache and a funny hat (Karakul). He was standing at the bottom of a rocky mountain. He started climbing the mountain side and I went with him. At the peak was a temple like structure with a fire burning in the center. It was an ancient fire, that had never been extinguished since it was lit up thousands of years ago. I asked him..."Who are you?". He said "I am Zarathustra!" I asked him..."What can you show me?" He said "Enter this fire with me..." He stepped into the fire and so did I. The fire felt cool (instead of burning hot). At first the flames swirled and danced; and then a spiral arose and Zarathustra and I were one with it. It spun faster and faster and then exploded. In that instant, I was everywhere, I was everything and everyone. I was the Sun, I was sunlight, I was all things it shone upon and illuminated. I was also all things it did not illuminate. It was known in a flash...in that very moment I was everything and everything was me. Thought I'd write this down for posterity

What's are some of the most interesting experiences you've had during meditation, OBE, etc.? I'm very interested to hear some of the them!