Dear Anamenesia,

It warms my heart to hear that you've found such great benefits from the abstination.

You are indeed quite right, when we abstain both physically and mentally while conducting our meditation daily, the prenatal essence jing is converted into chi, which is used to open the channels which is what most of the chi is spent on during the first many days of our meditation, until we reach the deeper meditative absorptions, the material, rupa-jhãnas.

As for books, I suggest you pick up Tao and Longevity by Master Nan Huai Jin, and perhaps also take a look at his other books. The Diamond Sutra should be of particular helpfulness to any true seeker of the Tao.

Strive on!

Hey!

Thank you for the book recommendation. You just gave me my book to read for the day. I'll come back here once I've read it.
I'm very interested in going deeper into meditation, although I admit it is difficult for me to cognize what that actually means, despite my understanding that "samadhi" is a state of absorption that is the transcendence of the phenomenon of experiencer/experience ; subject/object ; knower/known - the sphere beyond the mind. But I'm always wondering if I know that merely by the testimony of those that have been there.

I meditate daily, and what I've learned not to do is try to quiet the mind, because all that will do is stir up the pool. But it seems incredibly difficult indeed to get there without seeking at the same you are seeking. It's as if there is nothing I can do at all.

I've recently read a couple of books on fasting, and I've just completed a five day water fast, during which time I had not a single (ok, maybe one or two - but they were like clouds that just drifted over quite easily) sexual thought or urge. I didn't even have erections, which was a first.

I can see now why fasting may go together with retention of jing.

Now that I've completed the fast, I feel more empowered, like I have a stronger determination simply not to have sexual thoughts, or, supposing I see a fair woman, not to view her as an object of sexual lust, but simply as another quite ordinary human being. In my last post I mentioned I was on day 10 of continence. Well, I ended up making it to day 12 before things got frisky in my bathtub hahaha. But! I started again for the fourth or fifth time, and as I mentioned the fast, I'm now on day 7, the first 5 days of which I spent fasting.

To anyone wondering a helpful way to avoid predisposing your mind and body to sexual thoughts and urges respectively, I suggest you investigate fasting, because then you will begin to realize the enormous (in fact, inseparable) relation between diet and consciousness.

Skerlockian_Holmes,
Do you think the systems of the Tao (i.e. the channels you speak of clearing up) bear any relation to the systems of Indian thought (i.e. the chakras and the fire of kundalini rising, pacifying and powering up the energy nexi)?

I ask because I have been studying both systems of thought, and it seems so far to me that they are basically talking about the same thing, except these different schools use different symbolism for the same forces.

What I would like to see is a book that initiates a thorough comparative investigation between these two different systems (of the Taoists, and the Kundalini Yogis).

The common theme seems to be an extraordinary emphasis on the power of visualization, intention, and self-confidence.

What does everyone think about this?

Peace

Yes. Naturally.

Truth is truth.

Pick up the book Tao and Longevity, it explains things very well, if you take the time to really dive into it. You can find a PDF of the book online if you search.

Some advice to get you further along the line is to start focusing on the breath. Check out the anapanasati sutra if you haven't and focus on the four references (The Physical Body, Sensations/Feelings, Mind &Mental Qualities).

Breath meditation is deeply ying, and In deep yin, yang (kundalini) arises. This is the reason that anapanasati was shared by the Buddha himself to be a true method to get to actual enlightenment all by itself. It'll ride you through the jhãnas (1-4) and then through the immaterial samadhis to eventual liberation if followed correctly.

Get to inner love and blissfulness first, then ride the jhãna nimitta that arises from a one-pointed attention on the breath, and then let go and let go some more. You'll simply be astounded of the places you will be able to go.

The human body has an invisible etheric body, just as all things Yang have its Yin. This Etheric body, or astral body, is composed of prana, breath, life force, vitality or chi/qi. Just like rivers and lakes, this energy is carried by channels across the etheric body. Chakras are like distributive wheels along these channels. They are sometimes called "lotus flowers" to symbolize this distributive quality through the petals. Many people know that there are 7 major chakras, but they do not know that within these chakras are mini-chakras themselves. The whole etheric body is lined with thousands of mini-chakras.

Currently, we are unpurified energetically. Our energy channels, once cultivated, blazes with kundalini (or original "qi" ). However, uncultivated, our mind clings to false thoughts and form, taking this physical body of the five elements to be our true self. By cultivating through meditation and non-clingingness, the five elements of the body become cultivated and even the channels and chakras will transmute to become that like of devas and heavenly beings. Free yourself of attachment to the physical body. Meditation is the only way to learn detachment.

If you contact me personally, I'll try to help you along with some more information if you need it.

any idea how ?

It happens naturally as you gain experience in the deep 4th jhãna.

Sometimes it might not be that obvious that your astral body has already left the physical body. This is because the moment you become an astral body, wherever you think - you immediately appear to.

The suttas describe it like a snake (astral body) shedding its skin (physical body), but you might find that the experience might not be as gentle as that, perhaps even abrupt.

If you are in a complete expanse of space, a black void, then you might want to realize that you are in the expanse of outer-space.

The key is not to confuse this with anything else. In the fourth Jhana, you would already have somewhat of a transitional stage. You still have the sensation of a physical body, but you might experience infinity of dimension and timelessness.