Balance in taoist practices

[AlexKarmazin]

I want to speak about different kind of balancing. I am practicing about 2 years each day for 2 - 4 hours a day and find out that achieving Qi energy is not difficult, real problem is to handle it.

First problem almost all beginners faced, is too much energy. Usually you feel enormous sexual attraction and just burn out all your Qi that you gathered for many days of meditation. Sometimes it gets worse and you feel like superman starting eat ice cream in cold weather and ignore warm cloth. In other cases you could be rude with people because all your unconscious ambitions get enough energy.

Good thing that if you have master, he will point you on this situation and you could overcome this by concentration on Xing more than on Ming. But in some less form this situation could appear again and again and it could become a cycles. You have little energy and you behave more calm, when you accumulate more energy you become more careless and could be ill soon. Then you again become more wise and calm until next cycle begins.

In this case you should work more on Ming during low energy period and more on Xing during high energy period and clean your mind out of under consciousness ambitions.

 

Next thing you could face is Yin and Yang disbalance. If you practice really hard and could avoid sex and any kinds of ejaculation for long enough period you could face situation where you have too many Yang energy. On one of retreats I feel just enormous heat in my chest. It was a problem to handle Yang Qi inside me. I start circulating Qi between my lower and middle dantian and it helps. Than breathing through legs help to get some Yin energy for balance. But I get rid of this inconvenience only when I intentionally start pulling Yin Qi out of the earth in meditation and mixing it with Yang Qi. Do not misunderstand it is not fusion but only mixing

 

Now I am facing third kind of problem that could be in some case described like disbalance too. My energy is not clean enough and practising with upper dantian bring me inconvenience in my head. So now I step back in practice and concentrate on cleaning my body and energy.

 

I think this kind of problems in some form appears with everyone. So share how you face such things and what methods helps you.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Dispersing of excess is just as important as building up.

 

Finding a teacher is the best way to go .

[RiverSnake]

My understanding is your channels need to be given time to adapt to higher voltage. Listen to your intuition and don't practice when your body says no. Though that's just a general prescription...as Bagua says.....find a teacher who can tell you when your doing something stupid.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited August 14, 2014 by OldChi

[Andrei]

That is why they invented the 5 elements meditation practice, so that you cycle the energy and disperse the excess.

Also the tree practice is cooling things down.

[AlexKarmazin]

Thanks for your input. I practice Qigong and Neidan and I have teacher but only on practise you could transform information into experience. And sometimes you should get through some problems before you start understanding words of your teacher

About 5 elements practice I am doing it but it can't disperse all the extra Qi. And Qi level depends on many circumstances, sometimes it affects very unpredictable. But I already go through this stage and just sharing my experience. Now I am working on Qi purification because I start recognizing that quality is much more important than quantity of Qi. So this truth that my teacher told me many times I start understanding only now

[MooNiNite]

Hey OP, are you saying that your having trouble controlling energy? something mental?

 

Now I am facing third kind of problem that could be in some case described like disbalance too. My energy is not clean enough and practising with upper dantian bring me inconvenience in my head. So now I step back in practice and concentrate on cleaning my body and energy.

[Daeluin]

I've found a certain exercise to be particularly helpful with balancing and refining. It is an eagle and bear exercise. In low horse stance, start with embracing lower dan tien, then come up out of horse stance with arms stretched out to the sides, parallel to the surface of the earth, fingers extended to the tips. Then come back down. At first expand when coming up, contract when coming down. Feel the spiraling, don't be linear. Allow the arms to come up a little more to the back, and down a little more to the front, like an eagle flapping wings. When coming down and near the lower dan tien again, embrace with bear claws, gathering. Allow energy to extend all the way out to finger tips when coming up, and practice turning the light around. This is where refining kicks in, as when you come back down for contraction, allow the energy to turn around from the finger tips as it contracts, like making a circuit in the body. At first the turning around will feel forced, but as it becomes more refined, it will be smooth, and when coming down the elbows can sink and just allow gravity to pull you down, soaring like an eagle on the wind, floating on the refined softness of the qi pressure as it contracts. Breathe in from 3rd eye, into upper, then middle, then lower dan tien, thus working and balancing all three. Explore holding low, embraced at ldt, or hold when arms are stretched out, sinking into low posture while holding. Be aware of the feel of energy in the arms when up or down and help use it to balance the heaviness or lightness in your energy. Most need extra work on legs, and is helpful to only focus on expanding into legs at first, and using the movement of the legs to be what moves the arms. Feel the connection between the legs and arms, as this too is part of the 5 element refinement. In advanced work explore other ways of breathing.

 

Use this to augment other training... it helps to already have dissolved blockages and cultivated circular energy momentum. Very helpful for dissolving ego in long sets... aim for 360 repetitions, slowly. Repeat daily.

 

Great way to deeply unify and refine energy. Otherwise I experience the issues you described. Spot on with your post, thanks!

 

Edit: Found another source describing this exercise... I wonder if this is where my teacher found it. http://neigong.net/2006/06/05/the-mighty-warrior-exercise/

Edited August 16, 2014 by Daeluin

[AlexKarmazin]

Hey OP, are you saying that your having trouble controlling energy? something mental?

It is not mental, when your energy system is not ready and you still have a lot of ego and false thoughts, energy could go wrong way. So Xing should go ahead of Ming otherwise you could have demonic seduction. It could manifest as ego domination and over confidence.

In my case I have weak nervous system type, so I could work with Qi easier but it cost me less stability. And when I start practising I hurry a lot and do not pay attention to purification methods and now I need to step back to purify myself and get rid of chronic diseases.

[Daeluin]

It could manifest as ego domination and over confidence.

 

In my personal experience, when I have a lot of power and go on with my day after training is over, I need to be very careful about maintaining awareness on cycling energy through my whole body, centered on my LDT. When I do this, I am able to remain empty and humble.

 

Otherwise, the energy naturally rises to the chest and head and wants to radiate outward. There is a recognition of my power and the feeling of being able to do anything.... alas in this state it is too easy to dominate others and fail to listen fully to the present situation.

 

I've seen this a lot, especially in those who do a lot of energy work consistently. This is basically allowing the cultivated energy to overflow, rather than taking it to deeper levels of refinement within and ultimately sealing it within the marrow, bones, etc, storing it without expression until it refined and balanced enough to be applied in True Unity/Golden Elixir/Mysterious Pass, etc. The more refined, the more refined the expression of overflowing. Yet it is still overflowing.

 

This principle is related to hexagram 28.

 

 

Excess of the Great

 

Excess of the great means there is an excess of yang energy. As for the qualities of the hexagram, above is lake ☱, joyous, and below is wind ☴, entering. Going along with what is inside, delighting in externals, following what one desires, when happiness culminates it produces grief. In the body of the hexagram, inside are four yangs and outside are two yins; yang exceeds yin, and yin does not come up to yang -- therefor it is called excess of the great.

 

This hexagram represents harmonious blending of the medicinal substances, in which fullness requires use of emptiness. If follows on the previous hexagram nurturance of the great. In nurturance of the great, one is strong yet can stop and be still; stilling strength, not letting yang energy get too excessive, is properly the means to nurture strength.

 

In spiritual alchemy, the path of the gold elixir, we take two times eight ounces of the polar energies and congeal them into an embryo; it requires that the great and small be undamaged, and both realms be complete. If yang energy is too strong and yin energy too weak, then yin and yang are not in harmony, and you lose the path of continual renewal; when yin culminates there will be decay , and when yang culminates there will be deterioration -- going on in this way, the trouble of "the ridgepole bending" and breaking is inevitable. When the ridgepole snaps, the whole house falls down. In the same way, practitioners of the Tao who promote yang too much, who do not know when enough is enough, who can be great but cannot be small, suffer damage to their spiritual house.

 

If you can proceed breezily without becoming too intense, being harmonious and easygoing without clinging, mastering the ability to adapt to changes, preventing danger and being aware of perils, then firmness and flexibility will correspond, yin and yang will balance each other: Though great, you can avoid excess, so that it is beneficial to go somewhere - consummating essence and perfecting life, you develop without hindrance.

 

Liu Yiming / Cleary / Taoist I Ching

 

 

I believe the Tao Te Ching advises one to not dare to be ahead of anything else as related to this concept. When one never acknowledges one's power or puts it to use, the waxing virtue never culminates and so never changes polarity.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Daeluin