The Gate of life

[hagar]

I recently had an epiphany in my practice.

It revolves around the importance of the ming men point.

 

I have had difficulty accessing this point for alchemical practice, and getting the pulsing sensation activated there. This, I thought was probably due to general stiffness and inflexibility in the spinalcord in that area. What I later realized was that the Ming men, which has the potential of transforming the entire energetic makeup of the body is the first place to "shut down" when kidneys are depleted, and when sensory stimulus depletes the heart energy. I usually sense this related to Jing depletion after sex, or more indirectly as a "closing" after emotional or other stress experieces taxes the heart and kidney energy.

 

The last months I've worked at opening the gate of life directly, and with varying degrees of success.

Does anyone have any suggestions or techniques to opening the Ming men point efficiently?

 

A good article about the Ming Men is found here:

http://www.traditionalhealtharts.com/papers/mingmen.html

[三江源]

what happens if you just gently place your awareness there and breath in and out through it? try it daily for twenty mins.

[gendao]

yin Deficiency is a common pattern among North Americans

 

the majority of people in Western cultures need yin tonics that nourish, calm and restore.

Indeed. Most NA's have weak and depleted kidneys. I believe this is due to an overly-Yang culture, poor connection to the Yin Earth, getting stuck in our heads, overstimulation, too much sex, etc. Essentially, we are burning ourselves out. Heck, we even have an annual festival celebrating BURNING (YANG) MAN! When what we really need is a hydrating WATER WOMAN.

It is important to emphasize that the Ming Men will be strengthened naturally by guiding the qi to the Dan Tien or Yong Quan points. This process should not be focused on, but simply allowed to happen. Too much attention can inhibit the flow of qi and slow progress.

That's a good, interesting, general tip!

[hagar]

the emphasis on breathing into the Ming Men for me is part of the challenge.

There is really no feeling of connection there, even after longer sittings and I think a combination of breath work, postures and intention would probably do it. But I am still at the drawingboard.

 

The bubbling well point as a pathway to the Ming Men is not the whole story. If there is structural or other blockages in that area, this naturall process while standing is slow and inefficient, atleast for me.

 

The best approach I found is through the "root" of the navel, lying down. But it is still very, very vague. But maybe that's how it is

 

h

[Guest sykkelpump]

For me it opened up by itself while I was using the "I am" mantra.I used to try diffrent kind of chi kung methods, but it didnt work for me.Felt like I was making the block bigger.

[freeform]

Hagar, what I might try is: after getting into the relaxed qi gong state, I'd try and establish that connection - if it doesn't work, I would treat it as an opportunity to get into closer contact with my body (instead of getting annoyed with the body for not being open enough) - this change of intention is important.

 

Next I would simply ask "what part of me is responsible for the blockage of the ming men", after asking wait a little, with all your attenton on the body - you wll get some kind of answer from your body - it's now up to you to focus on this 'something' untill you get its nature (is it a blockage, what kind of blockage, where exactly, what memories are connected, etc etc) -

 

then you gently say hello to this part and sit with it - once it's used to your attention you can ask what the intention of the blockage is (usually safety and protection) - ask it what kind of energy it needs to feel safe and protected (or whatever the answer was)... etc.

 

some people I've explained this kind of thing to tend to imagine these parts as some colourfull cartoon characters in your body talking with you. In fact there is no imagination involved - all the questions/answers/details/information are felt experiences - they may have visual or auditory memories attached, but you need to concentrate on the felt experience - and never 'think' for them.

 

This method has been working wonders for me - not only are all those hard-to-reach, deeply entrenched, shy and wounded parts of me ready to communicate, some of them transform really easily and leave me with gifts I never imagined I had.

[Trunk]

Does anyone have any suggestions or techniques to opening the Ming men point efficiently?

Waist-turning exercises.

I could dig up some links, later, if you want.

[Spectrum]

In general lower your stance, open the Kua and relax into Sung, while moving... reel silk...

 

If you have some type of rotational forms or power generation drills like fa jing on the heavy bag or push hands these are excellent ways to tonify this energy as well.

 

The ideas that come up immediately for solo practice are of the rotational Silk Reeling variety,

 

Wave Hands Like Clouds

 

Fair Maiden Works the Shuttle

 

Snake Creeps Down

 

Golden Cock

 

Spectrum

[mYTHmAKER]

In general lower your stance, open the Kua and relax into Sung, while moving... reel silk...

 

If you have some type of rotational forms or power generation drills like fa jing on the heavy bag or push hands these are excellent ways to tonify this energy as well.

 

The ideas that come up immediately for solo practice are of the rotational Silk Reeling variety,

 

Wave Hands Like Clouds

 

Fair Maiden Works the Shuttle

 

Snake Creeps Down

 

Golden Cock

 

Spectrum

 

I've never seen the Spectrum form. I know all the others

[Spectrum]

Spectrum might reel silk w/ snake creeps to golden cccluck w/ a single repulse monkey to diagonal slant flying around the central axis of quan. I love combining Brush Knee each side to Deflect Parry Punch right into Chop w/ fist & Snake Lashes Tongue. If the rides not happening by the end of the 108; 216 is just as meaningful to the movement artist. I have been freestyle combining the yang long style w/ great flow results as long as i keep my feet and hips rooted and transitioning. Left & Right freestyle usually sets up an interesting field of possibilities for the concluding standing wu ji meditations. Love getting lost in taoist meditation movement... finding stillness in motion. Finding motion in stillness.

 

Spectrum

[mYTHmAKER]

How would you know if you ming men were open - or not

[Spectrum]

How would you know if you ming men were open - or not

 

Jeez, long term? Fear? Reproductive Probs?, Energy/Digestion, Kidney or Adrenal problems? Any sensation of tightness experienced in wu ji would be said to be a blockage on it's way out. Any interruption in the flow can be felt. The one experiencing must observe. Bodily Inquiry Induces Answers to Be. Wu Ji is effortless effort. Blockages in specific points are alignment issues that are adjustable. Usually standing meditation will amplify poor alignment and make pain come to the surface right away.

 

In some schools "buffalo plows field" is taught in conjuction w/ standing meditation for neutralizing the rear and front channels. Thus blockages brought to the surface through chi gung are worked through kinda manually via sunsalutation bending and folding of the body.

 

Most people can experience an "opening" of their channels upon concluding a "ground zero" type of treatment where they are reduced to a puddle of primodial ooz. Acupuncture, acupressure or sometimes reflexology can accomplish this. "opening" a closed point is just as much about the line that point is on and it's relationship to every other point then the point by it's lonesome.

 

If your practice does not allow you to open specific points as of yet then you must continue to thread the coins from the beggining again and again until your ready to progress. Practicing opening and closing your own acupoints is kinda what the arts of chi gung and tai chi are. If practice produces discomfort the acupoint inquiry must go on~!

 

Spectrum

[Spectrum]

Thinking some more on the opening and closing of the gate of life, which I think happens spontaneously when you get down. That is the sign of true wuji. It's a spontaneous squat, these squat stances are universal in the martial arts and repeatably seen as the fight / flight response on any video. The fact that any cultural artifacts that remain from the days of bon shaministic activities the utilize these ancient primal positions of humanity, and claim to groom of cultivate the internal garden upon which they rest is worthy of my personal inquiry. That is the spontaneous edge that the seeker surfs to their own repeatable NOW. The frequency and path may vary through the forest but the state of awareness, the spirit of exploration, of true voyage through the internal landscape of universal story and mythos, the release of ego, the adjoining of parrallel dimensions, the relingiushing of notions for exitsential singularities resulting in further, deeper, sublter artistic circular expansions... staying fresh, where are the deep refreshing breaths found, and where are the short and powerful generated from... what happens at the changing of days of tides of the endless transitions, this dance w/ Source through which learning stays a constant. Who knows how many dimensions we see only a silver sliver lining of clouds drifting a way in which our thoughts ought have not stopped. To embrace the spectrum of experience as whole is the greater level of absorbtion the adept must make; to be able to learn something new, shift there, shift back, transition cleanly, unattached to outcome, ensures safe passage. As Musashi said. Michi.

 

Internally when you apply chi gung breath and you have an instant healing machine charged with the breath of life pumping information in and out of the area via your consciousness itself. Once you touch upon breath you surf the intent of attention, not thought, the medium that thoughts travel on wordlessly. Intent. Yi. Yin. The deep upon which we wordlessly rest. The empti eye of awareness brings sense of senselessness. Silly me I forgot myself is the common place to start the work from. Circulation being the Gung. Good circulation makes you feel light after many days and makes changes to your shen; perceptions; permenently. Proceed carefully. With increased awareness comes increased responsibility. IMHO

 

Spectrum

[GrandTrinity]

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT THREAD....

 

 

how to open it? dont focus on it. Go to a teacher who knows the shizle. open the tan tien. be in the presence of consciously open people. make them concsious and open if they are not!

 

This article was fabulous, thanks whoever posted it:

 

Nurturing the Gate of Life

http://www.traditionalhealtharts.com/papers/mingmen.html

 

Good info is also in one of Larry Johnson's books on Huashan Chi kung...

 

anyone know other great articles like that?

 

Perhaps the book Nourshing Destiny...

[Christoph]

You might try simply rolling against the wall with a tennis ball to increase awareness and circulation...works for me.

[Guest sykkelpump]

How would you know if you ming men were open - or not

 

 

Your ming men is open when you feel chi or sexual energy moving up the spine and past the ming men point and through the ming men point and to the navel.Try forcing it by will wont help.Use mantra or some kind of meditation which help stopping your thoughts,and it happens by itself.took me 1.5 year to open the micro cosmic orbit,but it is still moving very slow.some of these answers here are unbeliveble and wont do anything for you other than frustrate you.

[hagar]

Thank you all for you input.

 

h

[mYTHmAKER]

What is the relationship between kundalini awakening and

the opening of the ming men.

[Spectrum]

One would have to experience both to know.

[Spectrum]

Your ming men is open when you feel chi or sexual energy moving up the spine and past the ming men point and through the ming men point and to the navel.Try forcing it by will wont help.Use mantra or some kind of meditation which help stopping your thoughts,and it happens by itself.took me 1.5 year to open the micro cosmic orbit,but it is still moving very slow.some of these answers here are unbeliveble and wont do anything for you other than frustrate you.

 

Exactly. Stop thought. It's simple. Things happen by themselves when we don't get in the way.

 

There has been recent critisism on here concerning poetic stances in response to wordy posts. A rediculous notion concidering for many on here it's probably more important that they can forget about what is said. "Frustration" is often the result of unmet expectations. Visualizations about energy often bring these results because when the mental energy wanes, what is observed is very different. This empti state of observation is your starting point.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "moving slow". When I experienced a circulation for the first time every point was certainly "open", and was not occuring at a rate I could measure in mph. Since then if I try to force a circulation w/o letting it happen naturally through proper wuji, yes, i experience a "blockage... but that's not really a blockage... it's only a blockage because I tried to open when I wasn't in alignment to open, the gate has yet to open, there is more sinking and alignment that needs to happen, more relaxation....

 

In the spirit of the thread,

 

Spectrum

[hagar]

To get back to the more technical aspect of my inital question:

 

Where do you guys actually locate the ming men. For me it is found somewhere between and on the direct inside of the spine at the root of the navel. It feels like it is cupped inside a cavity much more than a "gate" that is in a pathway. It definately is more like an eddy in a river that is hidden than a point along the way.

It also feels like the relationship btw the Ming men, the front dan tian, and the hui yin point is directly related to the quality of jing in its post-natal stage. The reason is that for many years I felt that the circulation of energy btw these points affected the lower jiao, and digestion in general. I think the first bodily function that suffers from a closing of the ming men is the digestion, hence the loose stool when stressed, or if you have little sleep. Also, it is much more difficult to cool excessice decayed Yang when the ming men is closed.

 

It definately is much easier for women to access this point, and I vaguely remember that my master mentioned that women have an easier time opening the ming men, but have a harder time opening the heart than men, due to the fact that their main challenge is emotional, while men have a harder time trancending desire.

 

Anyway, I better get back to actually practicing this...

 

Trunk: Could you send me a link to your waist turning exercises?

 

h

[Spectrum]

"For me it is found somewhere between and on the direct inside of the spine at the root of the navel."

 

Research GV4

[Ian]

To get back to the more technical aspect of my inital question:

 

Where do you guys actually locate the ming men. For me it is found somewhere between and on the direct inside of the spine at the root of the navel.

 

When you say inside, do you mean forwards or backwards?

 

I ask because I always assumed that it was a back channel thing, hence at the rear of the spine.

 

But Burgs told us it was in front of the spine, and that its activation was unmistakeable.

 

I believe him!

[hagar]

When you say inside, do you mean forwards or backwards?

 

I ask because I always assumed that it was a back channel thing, hence at the rear of the spine.

 

But Burgs told us it was in front of the spine, and that its activation was unmistakeable.

 

I believe him!

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I second Burgs interpretation.

ZW also said that the Ming Men, resides somewhere at the root of the navel, and btw two vertebrae. He said it is hidden and is more like a pocket than a "gate".

 

I'd like to meet Burgs again. I enjoyed his company.

 

Inspired by your firm commitment to stand, I have been doing the form every day for atleast 300 reps the last couple of months, and aspire to do 1000 every day soon. (will take about 1hr 30 min.)

 

"How to Relax" is by far the best title of any book in that genre yet!

 

h

[seadog]

Hagar do you know the tai chi movement step back and repulse monkey?In my humble opinion I have found this the best means to gage the state of ming men.