Some Beginner Cultivation Tips

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited January 2, 2014 by thetaoiseasy

[Edward M]

Thanks, I liked reading your post very much.

 

All the best,

 

Edward

[RyanO]

Great list! As a humble beginner myself, I agree with many things you say. I would contest however that one needs to be physically healthy before cultivating, often people begin cultivation due to illness and recover as a result (please correct me if I misread this).

 

Also, I'm not sure about being centered in the upper dantian. I agree that many martial artists types neglect the spiritual, but so do many spiritual types neglect the physical. I'm not sure about how this relates to what dantian one is 'centered' in, but a balance of all three seems essential. Additionally, many of us in the West have too much energy in our heads and thoughts anyway, so as a first step anyway lower dantian grounding is very important.

 

Just curious, what videos and books have inspired you the most?

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited October 5, 2012 by thetaoiseasy

[RyanO]

Great reply, thanks!

[mYTHmAKER]

Hi Taobummers,

 

How many high level tai-chi practitioners lived pass 90 years old? Something was clearly missing in their cultivation, in my opinion.

 

3.

Quiet frankly, it's rather disappointing to see that some "spiritual masters" energy are flowing straight to the earth. All the truly highly achieved masters I've seen have their energy gathered in the upper dan tien.

 

4. Diet is important. And the rule is very simple. Meat is very yin and causes the energy to sink. Vegetables are yang and causes the energy to ascend. Everyone requires a different type of diet, depending on where you are centered. Is your energy constantly dispersing and ascending and floating? You may need some meat. Are you sluggish, congested, and feeling bogged down? Some vegetables can help. Vegetables are not the ticket to heaven or more spiritual, nor is meat "bad." The only determinant is appropriateness. Choose accordingly.

 

How many non practitioners live past 90 and are able to move and be as good a shape as taiji practitioners.

You must take in total life style and genetics to pass judgement.

 

Re spiritual masters I think they have balanced tantiens'

They are usually very grounded - here and now - while being in the so called upper realms

 

Diet is important - However i am a vegetarian and am very grounded.

Everything is a combination of many factors

There are ungrounded as well as grounded in all diet types

[gendao]

1. Ask yourself this. Am I healthy, mentally and physically? If you aren't, then your practice is incomplete. Period. Do not try to justify your practices. Any practice that makes you seem crazy to the people around you and unfit to live in this world should be challenged and questioned and adapted accordingly.

 

No amount of spiritual growth or phenomenon can compensate for poor mental and physical health. How can you manage spiritual matters if you can't manage your own physical matters?

 

2. Moving meditation--tai chi, qigong, contemplative walking--serves a very different function than sitting meditation. Do not mistake their functions. You cannot replace one for the other!

 

In moving meditations, the main function is generate chi flow to break through blockages and to cleanse. The purpose of standard sitting meditation (not including MCO, orbit circulation, or alchemy) is to store energy in the correct locations. The former is yang, the latter is yin.

 

A simple rule is to do an equal amount of time of both -- you have to do both, despite your preferences. When we're young, we love movement -- we hate sitting. But don't forget to mediate with proper posture and hand positions.

 

How many high level tai-chi practitioners lived pass 90 years old? Something was clearly missing in their cultivation, in my opinion.

 

7. You'll experience many amazing phenomenon. Golden and white light flashing in front of your eyes. Sound of Qi like the roaring ocean or a thousand horses. Fragrant smells not from this earth. These phenomenon are wonderful. But at the end of the day, you still have to live with yourself.

 

So are you serviceable to people? Are you truly healthy, or just plain deluded? Do people around you notice a positive change in your life? Are you a rounded person who people like to be around? Or are you a mad man who locks himself in his room all day, doing cultivation to escape the hardships of life?

 

Don't cheat yourself.

 

9. Cultivation is not intellectual activity -- it is real life and experiental wisdom. Don't be disappointed that you can't explain concepts, or do not have access to many books or grandmasters.

 

Just seek the foundational information, and don't lust for too much information. Too much will only bog you down. And there is more enough information out their for a basic foundation. Get the foundation right: the basic qigong movement and meditation postures. The branches will grow if the trunk is solid.

 

People say that they've opened the Microcosmic Orbit and that its a beginner practice, for example. I call bluff. MCO is not a beginner meditation at all, and it can take you much further than one thinks if you practice it continuously. Hint: The orbit circulation starts as a small line --->becomes a huge ball or wave of energy--> the orbit feels like it is outside and within the body.

 

10. Do you want energy transmission from a grandmaster for free? Seek the source of pure yang from the sun, pure yin from the moon. Inhale their energies and store it in the dan tien. Be earnest and create an energy response with the ultimate sources.

 

11. No matter what you do, be sincere in your cultivation. That's the only real secret that I've found after a few years. Full lotus and all these esoteric techniques with mudras, chants -- they are useful and extremely important, but not the main thing. At the end of the day, the heart's sincerity is still the most important factor of all.

Wow, far more knowledgeable info than I was expecting here! Who were your teachers?

 

 

To wit, what's missing from a lot of the fragmented practices in the West is the overall framework that they all fit into. In China, quality instruction is customized to suit each unique individual (not generically one-size-fits-all like here) and their primary weaknesses/blockages, for instance. Different practices or forms of practices are prescribed for different purposes - by a master who can sense and diagnose your own personal condition.

 

Now of course there's also many different schools and many varying (and sometimes conflicting) opinions.. But, in general, they correlate a lot of what you've said.

 

Perfecting one's health is generally the first step and foundation of neidan. While meditation probably helps this - you may also want to employ TCM herbs, cupping, acupuncture, moxibustion, qigong, psychotherapy, etc. to help cleanse and clear out all your zang-fu organs & meridians. Basically, get all the help you can get! A healthy "human immortal" master will likely look 20 years younger than his actual age - although this is merely the first level of Taoist achievement (yet one that few ever even reach)!

 

As far as meditation - zhan zhuang is often used more as an initial practice to first clear the channels - and then jing zuo (sitting meditation) to store energy. Martial artists will also often start with deep leg bending or stance work to strengthen the legs (and build up internal energy that ways) as well (but moreso in their youth).

 

And I've also heard of a "tian di ri yue" (Heaven Earth Sun Moon) type of qigong that absorbs energy from the sun..

 

Finally, proper practice time is crucial to eventual progress. I believe it is like growing a mighty tree - the most you can do is simply optimize a naturally-slow rate with dedicated and consistent nurturing.

[astralc]

thetaoiseasy, great post, nice to have someone stating their beliefs and experience on the forum in such a lucid manner. Keep posting, there are many who will benefit from what you have to say.

 

astralc

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited May 14, 2013 by thetaoiseasy

[gendao]

Here are some more tips.

 

1. Follow the cycle of the sun. Any cultivation that doesn't recognize the specific times for good cultivation, and follows those times, is incomplete, in my opinion.

 

The best times for cultivation is 3-7 am, when yang qi is rising, or 12:00 am, when yin transitions yang. If you can just sit in a chair or do your cultivaiton at these times, you will see noticeable differences in your cultivation progress. This is important for people who hope to sublimate their sexual energy to higher wisdom energy. The sexual energy is also rising at this peak time.

 

One might ask, why not cultivate at 12:00 pm, when yang is at its peak? Your cells can't take it. Sometimes I literally get sunburnt if I practice at this time. My internal sun/ sexual energy scalds my body.

 

Its best to rest at this time.

 

2. This point is extremely important, and from personal experience.

 

Water is very yang, and is a potent energy conductor. DO NOT over-drink water. I will repeat. Do not drink too much water -- ESPECIALLY if you have bad kudalini symptoms, excess yang symptoms, suffer with anxiety or are celibate.

 

Its best to just drink some water with your meals, and not between meals. I know this is contrary to a lot of modern advice, both western and eastern, which advices to constantly drink water, 64 ounces a day. This is only necessary for people who are extremely weak.

 

Your body is 70 percent water. When you drink a lot of water, your qi flows very well, as water helps conduct it seemingly -- but at the expense of your Qi being gathered in the dan tiens! When one drinks too much water, his whole body buzzes like an electric pole. And the qi may become uncontrollable and excessive and exerts an upward force.

 

I've seen on many kundalini psychosis sites where they recommend drinking water to ease symptoms. THIS IS WRONG! It'll make it even worse, and cause an energy deficiency, since your energy becomes so scattered.

 

3. Walking after qigong and tai chi is good practice. If I can recall, yang chen fu recommended this. Walking also helps the Qi to settle, and helps the qi to burn. Do not be superstitious with esoteric practices, and forget the fundamental practice of walking. Most centenarians, when interviewed, clocked a good 1 hour and 30 minute walking per day, if you can believe it.

 

A good standard practice with walking is to land heel first and roll onto your toes.

 

4. Qigong is real life, and we do it all the time, we just don't realize it. When you roll your eyes upwards or open your eyes real wide, qi ascend. When you roll your eyes downwards, qi descends. (hint, upward and downward eye movement is a very good way to learn completing the mco in the beginning...) When you open your hands, qi channels in the heart and lung open. When you clench your fist or teeth fists, qi tends to ascend (hence..semen retention practice..) When you hollow your armpits, your lung channels open and allows you to breath deeper. When you sit in lotus, you seal off the qi to the legs, so qi can gather in the important areas in the body, aka, dan tien. When you drop your pinky as your palm faces your heart or abdomen as in many meditaiton postures, qi tends to sink better. When you drop your shoulders, qi also sinks better to the heart. When you smile, qi gathers in the middle dan tien. When you click your heels, the channels in your legs open: try to stand on your toes and drop on your heels, qi immediately ascends from the feet to the head. If you put your tongue behind the lower teeth as opposed to the palate, qi tends to sink....helpful if your qi keeps rising. If you put one palm facing and close to your body, and another palm facing but far away the body the qi will go from the region of close hand to that of the far hand...And don't get me started about the om...hung..wung...mah Yiii sshhi and all those sounds. They all resonate at very particular places and cause distinct qi movement, and there is nothing superstitious about the sounds.

 

So, what's my point? Learn how to feel qi and their movement for yourself. Do not intellectualize. With personal experience, you'll understand the reason behind all these weird qigong postures. Then you can invent your own postures and become a qigong master. But don't forget to take my as your student!!

You got some authentic pointers here...keep 'em coming!

 

Although, my theory about why dawn is better than high noon for practice is because that is when the atmospheric Yang qi is actually accelerating up the most. By noon, it it no longer accelerating and actually at a standstill right before declining.. So, you would actually absorb the most Yang qi when it is gushing out at full bore in the morning...not noon?

[Sonhoffman]

Beginner cultivation tip: Choose a teacher whose teaching and lineage resonates with you. Then do as he tells you.

[Mokona]

Bro, you must have built some seriously strong energy if you can burn yourself just by practicing at noon.

[Sonhoffman]

Bro, you must have built some seriously strong energy if you can burn yourself just by practicing at noon.

 

My guess would be he has been doing a rather unbalanced or forced practice, or mixing too many different schools.

 

What I mean is, if you need to consider so many things, especially when beginning, then it doesn't sound right.

 

I agree about the seemingly high vibration of Chunyi Lin though. I also like his Spring Forest Qigong because it is very simple in approach.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Sonhoffman

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited December 20, 2012 by thetaoiseasy

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited December 20, 2012 by thetaoiseasy

[skydog]

very nice

 

What is this about taking energy from the sun, moon and stars, today I went to the park and spontaneously I felt like breathing in energy from the trees and plants, then I wondered if this would be stealing their energy and bad, then I thought only if I they want to give it to me to mutually benefit each other.

[RiverSnake]

Good post Taoiseasy.

[Sifu ReL]

how can semen retention harm you?

[ChiDragon]

how can semen retention harm you?

 

It won't harm you in any way......

[RiverSnake]

how can semen retention harm you?

 

When you are doing meditations which consciously circulate energy in the body (Microcosmic Orbit)...some people decide not to bring the energy back to the LDT (which you are suppose to do), when you leave energy in other parts of the body that are not capable of storing the excess....it causes lots of problems.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

[Jetsun]

how can semen retention harm you?

 

If done incorrectly without proper sublimation it can make you fat like a pig or lean and mean in your psyche

[oildrops]

edited bc response was removed

Edited October 14, 2012 by oildrops

[thetaoiseasy]

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Edited August 22, 2012 by thetaoiseasy

[RiverSnake]

A person of higher energy cannot affect a person of lower energy without his consent either.

 

I disagree with this, people of high energy can affect people with low energy without their consent. Though it is a very very shady thing to do.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

[thetaoiseasy]

I know what you mean. i believe that consent is extremely important, however.

 

I disagree with this, people of high energy can affect people with low energy without their consent. Though it is a very very shady thing to do.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

Edited July 30, 2012 by thetaoiseasy