What is best source for learning Microcosmic Orbit if no live teacher?

[thelerner]

This question came up in the lobby. Personally I like Minke DeVos guided meditation on her Tao Basics CD. I like Michael Winn's DVD (Fundamentals 2 I think, its been a while) on it, and he has seminars. Another good source is the KAP program where you take a course through skype.

 

What books, video's and youtube sources out there seem good to you?

 

 

I'd add a fully developed microcosmic orbit is more talked about then developed. Many stop at the level of sensation (I include myself at this low level), the full blown is akin, though not quite kundaliniesque.

 

2nd add, take it slow and grounded. If you're energy sensitive or over do it, you can get burned, but the orbit itself is considered safer then other kundalini routes.

[joeblast]

My 3dantiens hexagram interpretation has definitely served to open my MCO more, but I have been very cautious with it due to its strength. That and imho there's a comparatively heavy foundational prerequisite requirement to do it properly... (but shouldnt there be a significant amount of fundamentals attained before doing mco anyway? )

[hydrogen]

The secret of Golden Flower?

 

I consider it the "bilble" of MCO for me.

 

The utilization of eyes and ears to guilde the MCO is a lot easier than "visiualization" for me.

[FokusFyre]

I would say definitley get Chunyi Lins Spring Forest Qigong Microcosmic Orbit CD, or Level 1 Manual or CD.

OMMM MWAHHH =)

 

The reason being its very safe and effective at the same time. You can feel the bliss pretty fast. But its a little boring at first.

Edited July 16, 2013 by FokusFyre

[thelerner]

I would say definitley get Chunyi Lins Spring Forest Qigong Microcosmic Orbit CD, or Level 1 Manual or CD.

OMMM MWAHHH =)

 

The reason being its very safe and effective at the same time. You can feel the bliss pretty fast. But its a little boring at first.

I've heard good things about Spring Forest Qigong, I think this is a link.

http://www.learningstrategies.com/Qigong/SmallUniverse.asp Small Universe $25

Minke De Vos Tao Basics $18 can be very slow to ship, but worth it imo. http://www.silentground.com/taotools.htm

Michael Winn stuff http://www.healingtaousa.com/ckf2.html

Edited July 16, 2013 by thelerner

[Branderplank]

Once again, as in other posts.

 

Dont start with the MCO!

 

Open up blockages through regular standing qigong first!

[thelerner]

Once again, as in other posts.

Dont start with the MCO!

Open up blockages through regular standing qigong first!

As you say, this been repeated by quite a few people here. Maybe most systems that include the MCO don't teach it as a beginning exercise and take it for granted you have fundamentals and a few years of sitting under the belt before beginning.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

best case scenario, you find the best teacher of the best tradition available to you and study that.

don't waste your time and hurt yourself.

qigong psychosis and other bad things are real.

 

my suggestion is, if you don't have a teacher, just learn to breath softly to the abdomen while you sit and stay aware of your breaths. keep looking for a good teacher while you do this.

 

MCO is just a sexy word,

all correctly followed paths lead to the same result in the long run

[Trunk]

My main focus for refinement is not the mco, it's the central channel (especially potent places along the central channel). I get mco refinement and flow incidentally due to nearby alchemy of the central channel. I find it more effective, easier, deeper, etc, than my mco practice results.

 

My other orientation is: open all of the channels. I've come to look down on the "just open this one route and all your energies will be balanced, blah blah blah", lol. Seems to me that that's a grossly over-simplified entry point and just not true. It's intimidating at first, but realistically understanding & undertaking the process of "opening the tissues and channels" it's just way more complex and comprehensive than opening two channels. I know that it has classic roots, probably through lack of personal acheivement I'm just talking out of my ass, but the mco just seems like one of those cheap lines you throw beginners to get them started but is a fraction of the truth.

 

Additionally, which has been more recent for me, is that it's really helpful to open the centers of the feet and hands. In Chinese medical theory, many of the most powerful acupoints are near the ends (hands & feet); a great deal of dynamic energetic change happens in the ends. So, activating the hands & feet is a short-cut to a great deal of refinement. (Obviously I'm happy with the DGS KYMQ method re: this.)

 

So:

- central channel

- hands & feet

- still exploring self acupressure

 

honestly, none of my current work is specifically oriented towards du & ren (though incidentally, yes). Hasn't been for quite a long time.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Trunk

[Celestial]

http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Meditation-Circulation-Yang-Jwing-Ming/dp/1594390673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374128255&sr=8-1&keywords=Small+Circulation

[exorcist_1699]

Because the Microcosmic circulation can only arise after people having achieved in completely stopping the leakage of their jing/ menstruation , any claim that MCC is for enhancing their sex power is some kind of joke for appeasing or misleading the fools .

[joeblast]

My main focus for refinement is not the mco, it's the central channel (especially potent places along the central channel). I get mco refinement and flow incidentally due to nearby alchemy of the central channel. I find it more effective, easier, deeper, etc, than my mco practice results.

 

My other orientation is: open all of the channels. I've come to look down on the "just open this one route and all your energies will be balanced, blah blah blah", lol. Seems to me that that's a grossly over-simplified entry point and just not true. It's intimidating at first, but realistically understanding & undertaking the process of "opening the tissues and channels" it's just way more complex and comprehensive than opening two channels. I know that it has classic roots, probably through lack of personal acheivement I'm just talking out of my ass, but the mco just seems like one of those cheap lines you throw beginners to get them started but is a fraction of the truth.

 

Additionally, which has been more recent for me, is that it's really helpful to open the centers of the feet and hands. In Chinese medical theory, many of the most powerful acupoints are near the ends (hands & feet); a great deal of dynamic energetic change happens in the ends. So, activating the hands & feet is a short-cut to a great deal of refinement. (Obviously I'm happy with the DGS KYMQ method re: this.)

 

So:

- central channel

- hands & feet

- still exploring self acupressure

 

honestly, none of my current work is specifically oriented towards du & ren (though incidentally, yes). Hasn't been for quite a long time.

funny I kinda went the opposite and only recently got into doing MCO, but that was only after having deciphered...felt too fake it till ya make it contrived before, but after doing the 3dt work its open enough that I can actually do the "normal" method and have the flow.

[thelerner]

Additionally, which has been more recent for me, is that it's really helpful to open the centers of the feet and hands. In Chinese medical theory, many of the most powerful acupoints are near the ends (hands & feet); a great deal of dynamic energetic change happens in the ends. So, activating the hands & feet is a short-cut to a great deal of refinement. (Obviously I'm happy with the DGS KYMQ method re: this.)

 

So:

- central channel

- hands & feet

- still exploring self acupressure

I've been impressed with Stillness Movement qigong closing down after meditating exercise where you end with a vigorous rub down of the bottom of the feet w/ the palms of the hand. It feels right.

[joeblast]

a super important part of my interpretation, especially to close with, is the 23 then 2. solid line on 23 being a connection-focus of the niwan with the lower dantien...it is tough to describe that connection in a way, but I learned it from studying a bunch of dr yang's YMAA material, so it wound up being something I learned to do long before discovering this portion - basically establishing the two ends of the taiji pole and harmonizing them...I spent plenty of time doing upper/lower dantien breathing and harmonizing the waxing and waning of the energy centers - that paid off big time for when I discovered this larger mechanism because it effectively allowed me to close the practice on command (at the proper ending point of hexagram 2, of course.)

[MattC]

Hi Thelerner!

 

I want to be brief and to the point as possible. The keyword here is to RELAX. The next most important thing is to RELAX. The last thing to remember is to RELAX! All day long from waking up to getting to bed.

 

Now, if you haven't decide to lead a solitary life at the monastery you are up against one huge challenge. How to RELAX in the face of all the concerns, ups and downs, ins and outs of everyday life.

 

I assume you're reasonably healthy human being between 20 - 50 years of age.

 

What does it take to get there in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. 1 - 5 years)?

 

-daily practice (long one in the morning 2 - 3 hours and/or two short practices, one in the morning, one in the evening)

-in the mean time try to relax to the max in any given moment (yeah, it's tough!!!), pay attention to your body but don't get obssesive!!!

 

You'll spend a great deal of time cycling between 1.acknowledging the tension (physical and mental) and 2.releasing the tension.

 

Ways to relax:

-light sports

-quiet sitting

-massage

-listening to light music

-listening to entraining tones

- ... you get the idea

 

The method doesn't matter as long as you deepen your ability to RELAX day by day. The goal is to get your brains from randomly jumping from thought to thought to a state of "silence". In other words, condition yourself to go from beta brainwave state to delta or theta on command. Yet in other words, you convince your conscious mind to get yourself into correct environment (quite place) and then tell it to get out of "your" way and let go. The difficulty depends on how many layers of ego (conditioned mind) did you manage to pile up in your life.

 

PRACTICE in nature is far superior than in closed urban envirnoment. Next best is the park. Next best is at home. No matter where you are remember: NEVER MISS A DAY OF PRACTICE!

 

Apart from any kind of method of RELAXATION, the best method I came across to open Microcosmic orbit is this one. (don't get distracted by the guys' character... the format he compiled really kicks-ass. As for the character... the discipline you need to open MCO is much harder than most of the things in life because you always train in a kind of paradoxical state of mind... you train HARD to be as LIGHT as possible in any given moment).

 

Beside RELAXATION there is another magic word.... PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and then some more.

 

There is no easy way to get there unfortunately.

 

In case you decide to put in the hours and dedication you need to have a pretty good idea why do you want it. I was lead to this path by the promise of pleasure. And yeah, it is probably the most rewarding and the best thing ever minus the effort necessary. As far as I know this is the only way to get in a state that everyone craves for and does drugs for this reason. While you can get a quick glimpse of such state with drugs, you are doing so much damage to your body that return of investment is questionable to say the least.

 

I would suggest to you only 2 things: RELAX as much as possible and never miss a day of PRACTICE.

 

There you go. You've got all the tools now. If you want to read some more theory I would suggest:

 

this

 

and

 

this

 

+ videos

 

Best of luck on your quest!

[thelerner]

Thanks for that.

Relax was a constant refrain from my old Aikido Sensei 'More relaxed, more relaxed'. Then I'd say 'I am relaxed, damnit'. And he'd walk away shaking his head. Only happened the first dozen years or so

Edited September 27, 2013 by thelerner

[hydrogen]

Thanks for that.

Relax was a constant refrain from my old Aikido Sensei 'More relaxed, more relaxed'. Then I'd say 'I am relaxed, damnit'. And he'd walk away shaking his head. Only happened the first dozen years or so

 

The Aikido hand excercises are excellent for open the arm meridian channels.

 

The giving hand and receiving hand should both active equally. Take a breath, hold breath, and both hands push against each other to cause discomfort sensation along (slight pain, pressure) the line at certain part for five count. Then breath out and release the presure gradually. If one does it correctly, the discomfort sensation should turn into something feels better and travel along the line further. If your channel fairly open, the sensation from both hands should meet somewhere in the center line, front, back or top.

 

Sadly, I didn't learn this from Aikido people.