Kunlun ?

[jjwalters]

 

I love how these arrogant, older Taoists(that are not teachers)are constantly spouting off advice without anyone asking for it.

 

Maybe not so arrogant as cautious.........I once received the baptism of the Holy Spirit when i was a Christian.....same effect as the kunlun web site teaches........so, I think I'll pass, but our paths may very. :-)

 

As to teachers...on a more serious level I consider everyone I come in contact with to be a teacher except for those wearing the "I'm a teacher sign". .........might work for Karate lessons, but in spiritual life I see no short cuts............so if my questioning seems arrogant it's not meant to appear that way.

[rex]

Maybe not so arrogant as cautious......

Personally I welcome the presence and experience of older practitioners.

[joeblast]

Hehe,

 

Alright. Maybe you have a point.

 

Joeblast, sorry I went off.

 

I will do my best to work on my Yi(really..I am..it's not easy!)

 

Cam

It certainly isnt easy, even the most accomplished of us can attest to that at least ya didnt say try

Edited December 3, 2007 by joeblast

[Yoda]

its more like abunch of little kids talking about how ninja turtles is the shit.

 

Right on.

 

I once received the baptism of the Holy Spirit when i was a Christian.....same effect as the kunlun web site teaches....

 

True. That makes us Born Again Taoists, come to think of it.

[Kreecher]

Ok, I'm a complete newbie. By chance I stumbled on Kunlun and got interested. I've recently purchased the book, lulu has informed me today it has been printed and shipped. So probably I'll be able to start reading by the end of next week. I have, however, found a lot of info already on this forum and have taken the liberty of putting what I found important together. So what you'll read next is a summary of what different people of this forum have said about kunlun, enjoy and please feel free to correct any errors as I am here (as in life) to learn :

 

Kunlun level 1

If you are interested in a spiritual path that cuts out all of the fluff and B.S. then this is for you. The method itself is like the path of enlightenment: free of that which is not needed. Don’t expect anything though, each Kunlun practice will most likely be different from the last. If you want to start with Kunlun, remember that practice at least once every day is required. The following are some examples of how your schedule might look: “get ready/comfy and do the visualization for a min or two untill ready to start -> 40min Active Kunlun -> 20min Closing form” OR “get ready/comfy and do the visualization for 10 min, 1 hour Kunlun I and (at least) 20 min closing down”

 

3 stages:

 

Stage 1 – You start with a simple visualization where you see yourself floating on a white lotus in the middle of a cloudless sky. Above, under and all around you is cloudless sky. Then you imagine white light all around you and breathe white light into yourself and breathe out toxic energies.

 

Stage 2 -Things get interesting. You hold you arms a special way and your feet a special way. The book says to hold this position for 10 minutes. Then, if things don't start happening spontaneously, you’re either supposed to adjust your position or stop and sit quietly. Basically the time limit of an hour is just a guideline. Your body will tell you when to stop. Max said that eventually you’ll reach a point where you will be done with the level 1 part in 5 minutes. Don’t be too concerned about the time, just do what feels best.

Possible effects of Kunlun - shaking or bouncing legs, upper body moving in a counter clockwise direction (spiraling), feeling of arms and hands being filled with chi, slowly moving up and slightly away from the body, intense heat (the sweat can completely drench your clothes), feelings of deep peace and relaxation, making sounds with your mouth (animal or healing like sounds), affects the brain and puts op energycenters in the body, …

Possible Visual effects – during or right after practice: colours can change, events happen faster or slower, objects in your vision can start to move slightly or get a pretty disctinct outline, … (so watch out in traffic of when working with heavy machinery. These visual changes you are experiencing, is just your own wisdom eye opening. It’s common.

Bouncy legs - this is the energy that is activating. If one leg is bouncing more than the other, that clues you in as to what type of energy needs to manifest greater in your life. Left leg is yin, right leg is yang. If one gets lots of right leg, then you are being too soft in your life; if one gets more left leg, then you are being too fiery and aggressive.

Spiraling - The spiraling is just a suggestion. If you are feeling movement you should just go with it. Spiraling clockwise will create the downward flow. Spiraling counter-clockwise will bring the energy up. Clockwise is what is recommended for Kunlun. Side to side is good too.

Heel of floor - This activates the energy. Your legs will begin to bounce and this energy will move up through your dan tiens if you let it. Again, you must not think too much in Kunlun. Feeling is the key.. When you have excess muscular tension in the calves and lower legs (which can occur when holding up your heels), leaning forward slightly might help OR relax the toes into the ground.

 

Stage 3 - Sitting in silence for 20 minutes. Just sit quietly with your hands over your navel. Pretty simple. Nothing special to report here. Though Max says that this 20 minutes at the end of sitting quietly is the most important part. This is because in this stage, you will be storing the generated energy in your lower dan tien.

 

During Practice:

 

• It is best to get out of the mind and allow this energy to do its work. This is also referred to the Formless Form. You start with a posture, but then you let everything go as the Kunlun activates. The analytical mind is best applied AFTER the practice. So the approach should be the same as emptiness meditation. No expectations, no goal, just allowing the energy (and movements) to do its thing.

 

• Eyes open or closed in level one position & sitting meditation afterwards: If you keep them open, they should be two-thirds open and looking down at a 45 degree angle. Relaxed. (Some like to keep them closed or wide open when they use the Mindfold mask they got from Alex Grey: http://alexgrey.com/shop.html - Very cool for really going deep apparently). In Austin's "Zen and the Brain" it states that keeping the eyes open helps keep an attentive awareness that carries over more readily to daily life, although it is harder to begin with. Some people regularly use earplugs too, but never all the time. Doing so really helps you feel your breath and make it more calm/soft/slender to the point where you dont hear it anymore... Which results in no turbulence in your air passageways. So again, it's feeling your way around this one and choosing the option that suits you best.

 

EXTRA

 

Watch Out – Kunlun can bring back (sometimes long suppressed) emotions. It does get rid of them, but before you lose these “demons”, there is a real chance that you will first have to encounter/face them again. All of the things you have within are revealed. You must be brave on this path because you will have to face yourself. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Mistake in book – In one of the threads it states that there is a mistake in the book for the level 1 exercise. On page 39 point #5, it says to put your left hand above at the throat level with the palm facing down, while the photo on page 42 actually had the right hand on top. This is one of those times where right-over-left/left-over-right doesn’t really matter so much as centering the palms and holding your hands over the lower dan-tien. Keep in mind though, that the starting posture should be right above left! This explanation is about the closing down posture. Once you feel the energy open you can forget the hand posture and let it go. Spiraling clockwise draws the energy down, while spiraling counterclockwise draws the energy up. Do clockwise for the cooling effect. It will merge with any rising fire to achieve balance in the heart. Not practicing alone seems to intensify the experience.

Benefits – It improves: your ability for stillness meditation, ability to sit cross legged for longer periods of time, flexibility of the legs, less hunger feeling, cleansing of your material and energetic self, ...

Special – if you’re sincere enough and have the right heart/mind, the transmission from sifu max could happen in a dream.

When do I start level 2 ? - The general guideline seems to be: practice for one hour a day for six months, then move on. However it seems this will be different for every individual. There are people that have started level two after 2 to 3 months of daily practice. Others have practiced level 1 for several years before moving on. It’s not about serving any lineage, it’s about empowerment. But do keep in mind that the general idea is NOT to attempt level two until you have done level one for 3 to 6 months. Your nervous system must have that time to adjust to the increase in current. If you push it, it won’t work and you might actually hurt yourself!

 

Some good basic info: http://www.alchemicaltaoism.com/ (trunk)

Website Kunlun nei gung, you can find the book here: http://www.kunlunbliss.com/index.html

 

 

Questions that did not get honoured with an answer (perhaps this time they will ? ):

1. What is the purpose of using the GimJee (sword fingers) ?

2. Chapter 6 deals with sexual energy and chapter 13 with dual cultivation. Are there enough pointers in there to adapt whatever practice I’m doing so that it doesn’t cause problems with this Kunlun practice?

3. Is the animal skin rug a necessity if you're practicing inside? I can understand about outside. Usually I do my meditation sitting on a round leather-type material pillow, on my couch (the pillow allows me to sit up straight and not use the back.) Its a decent height (w/ cushion) to have my feet on the floor, though I'm pretty comfortable cross legged. Yea, I was wondering about that. Can it basically just be any "electrical" insulator. Like, if your floor is carpeted, would that suffice?

[joeblast]

re:sword finger....I did some brief looking around online and didnt find too much that stuck out, other than that there was some sort of energetic significance to it.

 

Lung 11(yin, exit, wood) channel on thumb connects Triple Heater 1 (yang, entry, metal), Heart 9 (yin, exit, wood), Small Intestine 1(yang, entry, metal); Pericardium (yin, 8/9 exit) and Large Intestine (1 yang, entry, metal) point forward.

 

Looks like there is a balance of yin & yang in the form as well as a balance of entry/exit among jing-well points....anything deeper requires some more analysis...but that's what I came up with in ~10 minutes of looking around...