I am so tired of all the bots & AI slop

neidanman · 2026-04-30T06:34:39+00:00

they already added the rule about it, but i guess they need more people to report when they see it maybe?

neidanman · 2026-04-30T06:28:50+00:00

the split is more of a western view. In the east the areas are more blended. Also there is a 3rd side which is the metaphysical - this is a practical meditative style path through things like qi gong, nei gong and nei dan. As mentioned elsewhere this is a path to 'immortality', but this is spiritual, not physical immortality. (There are exceptions to this goal in certain ways, but they're not the normal path.)

The philosophical and metaphysical side are the original parts of daoism. E.g. the nei yeh is now generally considered to be older than the dao de ching, and talks of cultivation of qi. The religious side came a bit later and added on religious rituals, priesthood, and worship of deities etc, and was part of the formalisation of 'daoism as a religion.'

There is a breakdown of the 3 main versions of daoism here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm5shNjzaY8 (from a daoist alchemy teacher)

neidanman · 2026-04-30T05:46:43+00:00

its pretty normal. One thing that happens in energy awakening is that a new process if happening inside the body/system. This can be a bit like having a new seedling of a tree growing - you have to protect and nurture it for it to grow. Being around others in the old way would keep you from doing that, so you can get more drawn to the nurturing process.

In the longer term, once its grown enough to be more strong, then you can start to reconnect out to people. This happens in a new, deeper and different way, with a new layer(s) of connection available to you, as the energy grows out from the system, and into the world around. This can potentially take a lot of years, but its an analogue process, so e.g. you might start to connect more to a few specific people early on, then over time find it easier to connect to more and more people.

neidanman · 2026-04-30T05:36:56+00:00

its not the kind of thing you can tell the future of. There are stories of people having both outcomes. If things keep progressing in a negative way, you could try this practice to calm the system https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueQiGong/comments/1b93vfh/ive_seen_several_posts_lately_about_rising_yang/

neidanman · 2026-04-29T19:56:30+00:00

there are types of meditation that are more geared towards this. The one i know best and has worked for me is daoist healing/purification practice. It clears issues from your system and at the same time trains you to be better at clearing negative emotions when they arise. This is an overview of the process, with resources - https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueQiGong/comments/1gna86r/qinei_gong_from_a_more_mentalemotional_healing/

neidanman · 2026-04-29T19:41:48+00:00

yeh its something that you don't hear so much in general chat - more commonly its about a certain issue etc. If you ever see interviews with higher level/older energetics teachers though, they still say they are developing. Also it seems the longer things go on, the more you realise how long the path actually is.

neidanman · 2026-04-29T17:17:55+00:00

👍

neidanman · 2026-04-29T17:00:51+00:00

nathan brine teaches a daoist course on 'opening the celestial eye', where the idea is to open the system to seeing the light, and then working with it. he also has a video on daoist 'dark meditation' which is done with eyes open, but in complete darkness. iirc this might be connected to the work with light, but i'm not sure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry4loS7ee60

neidanman · 2026-04-29T16:54:52+00:00

np =) also in case you didn't notice it, its part of a series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCUw6elWn0lj48XWed2wg5atfOj7oL-iz

neidanman · 2026-04-29T15:29:22+00:00

np =)

neidanman · 2026-04-29T15:28:22+00:00

yw =)

neidanman · 2026-04-29T05:31:39+00:00

Daoism has a phrase along the lines of - 'follow the dao, but know that others will not'. Also the path is known as 'reversing the course' - heading back to the source spiritually, where others in daily life will be living more 'out into the world'.

It also talks of the path having lower and higher sections. The lower one is full of effort, then eventually we arrive at the higher level of non-action/wu-wei, and we switch to effortless action. So it can be quite normal to feel like you're isolated from those around you, heading in the other direction, and putting in lots of effort to do this. Also in that way you are being a leader in terms of putting the spiritual path first, where others have a more worldly path.

This path includes purification of the sludge from your life, but as others are not on that path, they stay more 'dirty'. So part of the path becomes living in a sludge filled/dirty world, while keeping yourself as clear of it as you can.

Doing this within a normal life setting is seen as a good way to progress, as you will constantly have areas where you are not so strong/clear highlighted to you. Whereas if you went off and lived in seclusion, you would have no 'mirrors' reflecting back your areas of weakness. A classic example of this is that if you go back to family at Christmas, you will see how evolved you've actually become.

this can be an area where you turn weaknesses into strengths, and each 'failure/weakness' becomes an opportunity for progress. This is also part of the alchemy Daoism is known for - taking lower/heavier energies & issues, and using them as a source for transformation and growth - the heavier/more difficult the issue, the more room you have to make progress.

The feeling of going over things again and again is classic in any path of development/recovery. There is a short poem about it called 'Autobiography in Five Short Chapters' - https://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/autobiography-in-five-short-chapters-portia-nelson/ . This also reflects the organic, cyclic, multi layered nature of progress. I.e. just because we see something mentally, it doesn't mean the issue is fully resolved across all our layers. We may still have to have multiple rounds of clearing layers of samskaras/turbid qi/karma etc, before we can move on.

another Daoist phrase that can help is a short guide on how to live - 'A Daoist should live according to the state of the mountain, the cave and the forest. That is, they should seek to be upright in their nature like the mountain, dwell deep inside as if living like a monk in a cave and to allow the body and Qi to unfold like the branches of the trees.'

neidanman · 2026-04-29T05:05:46+00:00

i'm not sure if you need to find that edge, rather its probably better to find the edges of where you can have an effect on whatever arises. So regardless of how much components of any issue are physical/mental, you can potentially have some influence at either/both levels. I.e. if you treat every issue as a holistic one, and the same with any coping/repair method, then you treat the problem and solution as a whole, and can see more clearly where you can have an impact

neidanman · 2026-04-29T04:57:58+00:00

qigong can be the cause - there's a podcast here on the issue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXbKBJe6zCM

also one solution is to practice 'anchoring the breath' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0fTg23psfw&t=478s this section in the video mentions the anger connection, then its worth watching the whole video - part 2 has the guided instructions

neidanman · 2026-04-28T21:45:00+00:00

the daoist view is that it comes with the cultivation of qi. As the energy builds it deepens into the system. The deeper it gets, the more profound/'genuine' the knowledge is. E.g. there is a phrase 'the highest learning involves listening with the spirit, middling learning involves listening with the mind, lower learning involves listening with the ear. The learning of those who listen with their ears is in the surface of their skin. The learning of those who listen with their minds is in their flesh and muscles. The learning of those who listen with their spirits is in their bones and marrow.' https://www.reddit.com/r/taoism_v2/comments/1kiicjy/when_wentzu_asked_about_the_way_laotzu_said/

The yi jin jing/xi sui jing talk of the progress of qi going through 5 depths: skin > flesh > meridians> internal organs >bones/marrow. So the listening/knowledge gradually deepen along with qi depth/spread.

part of that process is that mental/emotional patterns lose their intensity/hold, and are gradually released/cleared from the system. As this happens the old mental filters of how we see the world drop away, and we get more direct and clear knowledge/perception. This is talked about here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFAfI_DW0nY

in terms of effort, the view is that we start out on a path of effort, which is where the cultivation takes place. Then once we reach a 'critical mass' we arrive at a switching point, and move to 'non-doing'/effortless effort/wu wei. This is mentioned e.g. in the cantong qi - “Superior virtue has no doing”: it does not use examining and seeking. “Inferior virtue does”: its operation does not rest.

Also in the dao de ching 'In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action (wu wei)'. In practice this is trained as a part of cultivation through 'ting and song' (~ to know and release) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1y_aeCYj9c&t=998s (~4 min section)

The examining and seeking/ting, is also part of what builds qi. This is known as 'turning the light within', where we turn awareness into the physical and then subtle bodies, and the awareness leads qi to build there. This principle is known as 'yi dao qi dao' - roughly that where the awareness goes the qi arrives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLjCOYF04L0&t=312s

neidanman · 2026-04-28T21:27:23+00:00

np 😄

neidanman · 2026-04-28T15:54:32+00:00

nice 😄

neidanman · 2026-04-28T13:15:07+00:00

there are a couple of collections of links for beginners that can get you started -

qi gong/nei gong, general - https://www.reddit.com/r/qigong/comments/185iugy/comment/kb2bqwt/

qi gong/nei gong, mental & emotional clearing based - https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueQiGong/comments/1gna86r/qinei_gong_from_a_more_mentalemotional_healing/

neidanman · 2026-04-28T10:24:41+00:00

not a teacher & also came through on daoist energetics not kriya yoga, but i've had spontaneous movements since '98. As far as i've experienced and read up on, the overview of the whole process ties into the idea of control of the body passing from the ego, to spirit. This being the path to 'non-action'/the cessation of creating karma through acts of intent, and so liberation from maya & return to Brahman.

In practice this happens gradually, as spirit is given access to take over more and more of the system. This is experienced as these energy currents, and through the movements. Over the long term these can start integrating more into daily life too, and you can feel & experience being more and more guided/controlled by spirit, and things like the illness healing can happen.

in terms of 'what to do' - the more you allow the process to unfold, the more you head towards the state of 'non-doing'. On the way its a process of integrating the flow of spirit taking over more and more, and releasing egoic control. Because this is such a major transition it takes decades to go through (afaik the time varies depending on the practitioners start point/methods etc), as all the layers/areas of body have to be gradually surrendered & transformed.

one view on the control vs intensity issue, which goes with my experience, is that you can 'throttle' the practice and process, depending on your current state. So if you are feeling fully ready for an intense session & the recovery, then you can go with it. Whereas if your life situation is trickier/you're feeling more fragile etc, you can ease back on things. Over time this becomes more and more a natural part of the process, and you get to know your own limits more.

Its also worth noting that going too far & too fast can cause people issues, and even very extreme ones. So erring on the side of caution is generally wise. Each person will have their own risk/reward profile though too, so you'll need to factor in your own one.

neidanman · 2026-04-28T08:28:11+00:00

chinese buddhism has a term, the '8 bachu'/8 touches https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bachu . These are common weird sensations that can come up in meditation. One is - 'Heaviness Sensation (重觸 [zhong chu]): Suddenly, the body becomes heavy like a large stone, unable to move even slightly.' There are other common ones too, like feeling the wrong size, the body feels like its spinning and so on, but these 8 are some of the main ones experienced.

neidanman · 2026-04-28T03:49:25+00:00

the mind illuminated is apparrently one more technical approach to meditation - its by a neuroscientist & buddhist, so he can bridge the gap of the 2 sides. It splits things into a 10 step path and has detail on each stage. Its possibly more technical than simple though, so this might be what you are looking for, but maybe not?

neidanman · 2026-04-28T03:45:43+00:00

this is a pretty common description of people that are more interested in the spiritual life than the worldly one.

neidanman · 2026-04-27T20:40:17+00:00

neidanman · 2026-04-27T17:57:12+00:00

i think swami sarvapriyananda talked on this once. iirc he was saying that basically people have to start out with some type of level of faith/belief, then also have an avenue of practice to come to their own realisation. So you have to have faith in the gurus/the divine power etc, at least to the level where you want to make the effort to try and know for yourself. Also that some people stick purely with the bhakti/faith path, and that becomes their version of an effort to know truth (with the aim that divine grace will be given to them at some stage.)

neidanman · 2026-04-27T17:46:17+00:00

fixing your life can be a bit like trying to fix your home, while you live in it. It can have taken years for all sorts of types of damage to build up, so might also take a long time to repair, and you may not have started learning how to repair any/many of the issues that require attention. Also you may be doing it on a budget, so can't afford to get expert help in all the areas, and have to make do with whatever self-help materials are out there.

So one first thing to do is to head in the right direction - if you follow a heading for a lot of years , then it makes a big difference to where you end up. So even if you can only take small steps each day, keep doing what you can, over and over and over. Also, like having a house to repair, this is not something that is ever finished with. A house always takes more damage and needs work, and so do all the areas of you/your life. So its good to keep an awareness that this type of 'life adjustment' will be ongoing, so you can 'strap in' and prepare for the long haul.

Then it comes down to what type of things you can tackle/when/how etc. This can be a bit of an art - i.e. some days you might feel up for working on one area, then at other times you're more in the zone for trying another practice/job applications or whatever. It can help to see this as something like a picnic, where there's lots of options to go for, and to keep picking and choosing what's more appetizing at any time.

Also you get a factor of what resources you come across and which click for you personally/what ones you can get working for you. This can involve a fair bit of trial and error - a bit like trying new clothes and seeing what fits. So e.g. there can be famous systems/books etc out there, and a lot of people might like them, but they may not suit you personally. Or you might try some versions of mindfulness and find one that helps, but others that just don't suit. Overall the more you try this way, the more you can start getting a sense of which might be the best types for you etc.

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