the big draw

[Grover]

I've been working with the big draw by myself for about a week now, and successfully retained 3 ejaculations by tensing the P muscle. However, as a result of the determined, tense muscular effort, I feel very aggressive and when I orgasm, the "sex energy" seems to feed these feelings and so I end up with what I might describe as a primal combination of aggression and pleasure.

 

Im sure Mantak Chia didn't mention anything about this, and I never experienced this with the finger lock method nor with any other normal orgasm for that matter. What do you guys reckon ? should I try and take things more easy before my eyeballs pop out ?

Edited February 4, 2007 by Grover

[MASTERforge]

Doesn't semen contain testosterone the male hormone that affects agression? Storing it up will naturally make you more aggressive and horny. Your creating sexual frustration in yourself so naturally agression would occur.

 

Don't know if there are techniques to redirect the agression or channel it elsewhere?

[Spectrum]

Another reason that Taoists traditionally taught wu ji before any "circulation" techniques because of the natural attachments we establish and pattern that effect the circulation of chi. Back off a little and share the lengthening plateus w/ your partner. Read Art of the Bedchamber the chinese classic. Don't give you'reself a headache. hah! Less is more. Taoist wisdom. If you do it, pump in 1/2 increments to experiment w/ the "vacuum" you're creating, and remember to COMPLETELY relax, mind and body on the exhale. I would say practice emptiness or "non-attachment" as a suplimentary meditation, observation time can act as a valuable tool, allowing you to "let go" of perceptions, thoughts, emotions, even compulsions. Good luck and God speed.

 

Spectrum

Edited February 5, 2007 by Spectrum

[IanB]

Energy Balance

Solo practice will add more to aggression where as with a partner their energy will usually help to balance, although in some cases it might actually make things worse. It can help to spend time in the company of people who balance your energy in a social environment.

The long term game plan has to be to develop some regime of sexual alchemy to balance and absorb the energy correctly.

Retention and energy patterns

The Big Draw or Seaman retention will elevate and add energy to patterns that already exist, it seams to emphasise your issues. The danger is that the patterns are allowed to strengthen and have a larger influence over your actions.

My experience is that the level is best kept just uncomfortable so that your other practises can focus on it more easily. If the level passes the uncomfortable level than you should some form of Kan & LI or intense physical exercise to use the Jing up.

It is possible to do some gentle dissolving or emptiness practice during sex to help this process, as you relax it is then easy to circulate and begin to open the body. The trick is just to relax and slowly move in to the practice.

 

Ian

[Spectrum]

intense physical exercise to use the Jing up.

 

This is what I was taught as a beginner exercise:

 

Adopt wu ji stance. Hold a small 2.5lb preferably a small round barbell weight, at 45 degrees off your shoulder looking through the hole up into a corner of the room. As the load begins to settle, adjust your breathing and posture accordingly. Repeat on both sides.

 

After establishing a baseline for your practice, gradually extend your times, but do not go back. Example 1 min one day, is 1 min the next, not 45 sec. A few days later if you extend to 1.5 min you stay there, you don't do 1 min the day after. This is the methodology of longevity practices. It may surprise you how long you can maintain this position to begin with.

 

This in combination with "threading the nine pearls" exercise aka "wall prop" works pretty good.

 

Best of luck in your training.

 

Spetrum

 

Edit for PS-

 

"retention will elevate and add energy to patterns that already exist"

 

Good Observation. Less is more. Subtle guidances towards transformation over a long period of time will yeild results. Forcing anything just ends up hurting more then healing.

 

Spectrum

Edited February 5, 2007 by Spectrum

[Trunk]

successfully retained 3 ejaculations by tensing the P muscle. However, as a result of the determined, tense muscular effort, I feel very aggressive and when I orgasm, the "sex energy" seems to feed these feelings and so I end up with what I might describe as a primal combination of aggression and pleasure.

To paraphrase what Max said some years ago: It's like food - it's not how much you can eat but how much you can digest.

 

That is, if you are retaining more jing than you can harmoniously integrate and transform, then you are doing yourself damage. So, this is a gradual process of learning how to harmoniously integrate and transform, and that generally comes about as bi-products of more core practices along all layers (very physical through very subtle). So, you keep up with whatever physical practice/s you have, whatever philosophical inquiry, whatever qi gong, devotions, whatever stillness meditation. As a result, maybe, your ability to harmoniously integrate jing gradually improves.

 

It is not (!!!) a simple equation of "semen retention = benefit".

[Spectrum]

Gung = Work

 

I had the refining process described as turning rocks to sand over a slow period of time. The draw on the other hand was not taught in "parts", but as a whole process of circulation, and not for sex, but for raising the hair on the back of your neck, or rather a response to the fight/flight response / squat, transforming that response into a state of Sung, relaxed readiness responsive. The prerequisite meditation was a certain gathering of chi in the dan tien, wuji or center. This was the examination of motion in stillness. This is as much physical as psychological. Sung is the meditative state that is a relaxed readiness to flow w/ the go.... before the vacuum is used to circulate.

 

Circulating without being centered and balanced is inviting an increased energy load onto your existing life patterns. Testosterone is very connected to agression. On a very primary level you can use the growth hormone effects of you're own endocrine system to compliment your practice. Body weight exercises and flexibility is where most people go first, martial arts are good, but in order to progress far cross training is needed. Grappling is good for whole body strength. Nothing replacing punching and kicking a swinging bag. For chi gung practice stopping the bag w/ as little of movement as possible.

 

Chi gung for health and well being is good, but again depending on your path it's good to balance health technique w/ martial 2 person dances for balance as well. Yang Cheng Fu talked about the belief he had that 2 person exercises harmonized the yin/yang balance of each practitioner. Just something I read the other day in Yang Family Oral Transmissions by Douglas Wile.

 

If you choose some type of internal martial art to help focus your energy you might encounter some similar ideas. Again best of luck.

 

Spectrum

[Grover]

yes, I don't want to build up jing and have no outlet for it, which is the feeling I am getting. I've decided to take it easy on this for now. A book came into the mail today, "Awakening Healing Energy Through the Tao", ill give it a read and try some of the stuff in there & hopefully get some circulation happening.

 

Thanks for the replies and the advice.

[Spectrum]

Grover,

 

Attitude and intent is everything. Personally I think it's important to remember that we're working with what we are born with, so in actuallity what we're observing, and Working (gung) with are completely natural processes.

 

In my own journey it seems the importance of learning stillness first in Taoist meditative practice stems from the mind/body dualism/unification condition. In the start of practice the novice doesn't experience mind and body as one, thus not experiencing body directly, only the chatter of mind kind of overlayed. Then as the mind quiets, the dialog of body comes to the surface, and the phenomonological effects of the mind-body dialog can be observed clearly.

 

It's a gradual process, with ups and downs like any type of training. Consistant practice produces clear results.

 

Concerning circulating, I believe again is a very natural event, we just have to look for the times in which it happens naturally. This is the goal of practicing "Wu Ji" standing meditation. To reconnect the old and new parts of our mind/body, dissolve un-needed patterns and engrain positive life giving patterns.

 

A very good way to "get the kinks out" of both body and mind is to routinely practice physical discipline such as TaiJiQuan (Tai Chi Chuan) to compliment your meditative journey. Eventually "circulations" form as results of movementment from nothing back to nothing. Practice a tai chi form that is going to engage your mind into your body for at least 30 min. I'd say Yang 108 is the best, because of it's length. It a classical style, and it's principles are solid for health and for martial art if you get a good teacher.

 

Experiment freely, less is more. With these principles in mind you can assume a "little" sensation can be made bigger by pumping the wave, like if you were to get behind a wave a push it. Or make it smaller by getting in front and slowing down. Just ideas.

 

Books I'd recommend for some clearer pictures of the traditions in which your exploring:

 

Fundmentals of Tai CHi Chuan by Huang (1951 HK) : A huge bible of tai chi w/ some solid information in the appendix on different levels of "circulation" in tai chi chuan including meridian maps.

 

Daoist Health Exercises by Da Liu : A small book by Da Liu who came over at the same time as Chen Man Ching around cultural revolution time. Has some good info on sitting meditation (althought I don't do exactly 36 eye rolls...) and some nice ideas on freestyling Tai Chi Chuan for moving meditation, by chaining specific sequences together.

 

Warriors of Stillness Vol1-2 by Jan Diepersloot: Meditative Traditions of Chinese Martial Arts. Focusing on the traditions of Tai Chi Chuan and Yi Quan of Master Wang (synthesis tradition founded in the 50's?) Good infor on biomechanics of energetic awareness, etc.

 

Chi Gung by Lily Siu Phd.

 

The Root of Chinese Chi Gung by Yang Jing Ming. Good historical overview.

 

Finding good people to practice with is the single most effective thing you can do to progress fast.

 

Spectrum

[Trunk]

try some of the stuff in there & hopefully get some circulation happening.

AlchemicalTaoism.com is a mix of my own essays, plus archived sort of "greatest hits" from this community, compiled over the last 6 yrs +. (Related note, it is not Teaching by Teacher/s, but in the context of students-helping-students.) Though it's way too extensive for a single read, it's a good intro to a lot of what's been going on around here, theory and practice.

[iadnon]

I've felt such feelings after a long solo session. My conclusions have been: the body/mind is prepared to ejaculate, so retaining it must have an inbalancing effect. A kind of "I'm charged, and I want to shoot because that's what i've been doing for thousand of years."

 

I use to move the energy out of my head to the navel rapidly. Bear in mind that your brain may not be able to handle such a boost.

 

Anyway I don't practice the big draw. I surf in the crest, specially in the bed, horizontally positioned. With a bit of practice you end up not needing the draw. I put myself in the crest and I concentrate in the breathing pattern. With every taking in I imagine myself stretching my arms upwards as the energy goes up my spine. That works fine for me. Even more, not putting all my effort in the sex energy (because I loose some control bilocating my arms) it's easier to move it to the head.

 

The downward movement is even easier. After some circular loops inside the skull I put my tongue's tip in the roof of my mouth and the energy, automatically, starts to move downward to the navel.

 

By the way: is P the perineum point? I've had negative experiences with it, so I avoided its use completely.

 

Have a great weekend!

Edited February 9, 2007 by andonitxo