Incidentally, all of these effects can also be produced with sensory deprivation - just a note. No careful training or practices needed. Well, except the peripheral vision one of course, since that'd spoil the point of the sense dep. However given that peripheral vision is roughly 270 degrees total, and we have very high awareness of it naturally, focussing on it enough will inevitably cause it to 'widen' in your perception.
Interesting. Any idea what the general duration of these effects is and if duration is dependent on continuing sensory deprivation? Actually, speaking of sensory deprivation. That crazy chikung guy - Mantak Chia (I think we talked about him on some other thread once before) used to run a lengthy black out thing, basically participants would be inside some structure where they would eat, sleep etc… for a week. I read some reviews from participants and they were reporting some right weird stuff. From what I gathered, the human mind is so dependent on vision, that when it is take away, the brain replaces it with its own projections. I can’t find the reviews I read before, but here are some links to some related stuff: http://www.universal-tao.com/TheDarknessReview/DarknessRetreatsIntro4x.pdf http://www.universal-tao.com/TheDarknessReview/TheDarknessReview1.4.html
Generally they last while in sensory deprivation - starting between ten minutes to half an hour after entering the tank. Whether or not duration is dependent on continuing I don't know. There are drugs that have the same effect, and it's also worth noting that for the 'awareness shifting' your seat of consciousness is technically mobile - most people feel it as being in their head as that's where our major sensory input comes from, but people with different prime senses may feel their awareness in different places, and moving it is possible with practice - it's purely a perception based phenomenon. If you ever get a chance to sit in a dark place (must be pitch black) for a time you'll experience the same thing.
Was just thinking, you know a lot of meditative daoists traditions talk about sealing the senses in order to turn awareness inwards, I guess that's sort of selfimposed sensory deprivation
great explanation. To add, it should be noted that visualization technique and intent are away of achieving a one mind state, and even this process can cause tension and stop energy flow. The ultimate goal is to achieve the no mind state, when practicing Qui Gong.
yet farting is another way to release chi, however if you are doing it with intent, then that's just plain rude. lol
Everything is Chi! Chi is everything! If you're chi gung was good enough you could reabsorb the energy of the fart. We are all made of fart! But why do you need to release and reabsorb the fart chi if it's already in you anyway! Fart chi is everything!
The reason you are experiencing tingling and tremors is because your qigong is taking your nerves beyond the threshold stimulus. your nerves are getting all excited and electrically charged. qi is real. it's steam rising off rice, apparently. If you're interested in weird and freaky you should research Tummo. it's a practice done by tibetan monks where they generate body heat to survive unlivably cold conditions. it's pretty "cool" :banana: stuff. yeah dude, don't focus on the sensations. you're gonna overload your circuits. just do your qigong, and let sensations rise and fall the way things do. another neat qi "game" is paying attention to your body and the way emotions and other sensations "feel". Feels like warmth, right? Or heat? Even an itch or pain or love or anger or pretty much any sensation is felt as heat. Kinda cool? Follow what organs are involved with the heat, and then tell me you can't give kudos to TCM! :hat: Anyway. Thought I'd say hi!
In the spirit of "This is why people laugh at creationists" . . . this is why people laugh at those who believe in chi.
Don't underestimate the power of the force. Mmmm.... don't forget about the yoga sutras. Lots of religions believe in "Holy Spirit" or "Kundalini Shakti" or "Ch'i" or "Prana". I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and try and convince you of anything. YOU have to make the effort to meditate. YOU have to practice the techniques and determine the results for yourself. But you're waaaay to smart for that, so you really shouldn't bother. I practice qigong, though as part of my taiji warmup. I'm a True Believer, as one might put it because I've seen the results of earnest practice. Now, I know; science this and fooey that. Fine. Wonderful. We've all read the evidence, right? You're right. Science rules all. No room for subtlties, right? Or maybe for changes and causes that happen behind the veil of matter? Oh well. Only time will tell......
Absolutely right I'm way too smart for all that. I just eat hot rice to get the same benefits. I especially liked "Lots of religions believe in . . . ", by the way. But sadly, for the more rationally-minded amongst us, statements like that carry about as much weight as "Lots of 5-year-olds believe in . . . "
Didn't know the steam thing was a metaphor. Makes sense. Thanks for that bit of information. That's what condensing breathing is about, right.... transmuting qi to jing? Something....
Eh, trancendental steamed rice and vegetables. Become the Chinese buffet sort of thing. Lots of religeons DO believe in the idea of subtle self.... Kabalah.... esoteric Christianity.... Islam... the Tao..... Buddhism (TUMMO.... do some research! ) and of course the various "Hindu" traditions..... Skepticism is cool. I like your attitude.... a little candid humor (the I eat steamed rice thing) mixed in with some common sense and I believe you're probably a little more open minded than you make yourself out to be. What's your school/style? Anyway, nice chatting with you guys. I'll check in in a day or so.
Actually that's not how nerves work. The electrical impulses are chemical in nature (ionic) rather than anything else. If anyone could 'charge' their nerves it'd be quite easy to measure. [quote[If you're interested in weird and freaky you should research Tummo. it's a practice done by tibetan monks where they generate body heat to survive unlivably cold conditions. it's pretty "cool" :banana: stuff. [/quote] That's nothing special. Homeostasis is incredibly effective - there was a scientist who decided to test this by spending fifteen minutes in a room with an ambient temperature above boiling water (a dry room, but still). He survived. His dog survived. The egg he took in was hardboiled and the steak was cooked. No magickal training involved or required to explain it. Okay. I can't give kudos to ritualistic nonsense. I can give kudos to some good exercises and physical practices, but there's no need to bring religion or magic into it. A portion of people believe in shapeshifting, man-eating, intelligent lizards ruling over the earth. Doesn't make it real. So you agree that gullibility is an essential aspect of chi practices? So you've seen these results, but you're unable to demonstrate them in a way that'd convince anyone who isn't also a true believer? Does sound kinda cultish you have to admit. Okay, stop right there for a second. Science is the application of the scientific method, and you're basically disregarding that method. Let's look at what the method involves, shall we? 1. Test everything. That's pretty much it. Over-simplified obviously, but covers the basics. Now the first evidence we have of the method being formulated comes from around 1600BC (Egyptian medical text). The method as we know it now began to be formulated around the 1300s. The result of this, in a form that we'd recognise, is only about two hundred years old. In that time science has told us about the universe, about medicine, about our planet, about our history, given us every single bit of technology we now have, every demonstrably effective medicine we have, just about anything around you. It is fairly solid in terms of approaches to the world, with demonstrable results. So, what exactly has tai chi mysticism given us? I couldn't quite tell if you meant subtleties or subtitles. I'll assume subtleties. Not quite sure what you're asking here - subtleties don't really come into it. Something either is, or isn't (or is both if we're going down the wave-particle duality route but I don't think you're ready for that yet. Veil of matter? Are you referring here to the events happening at the quantum level, which we're well aware of and studying, or some astral plane level which cannot be detected and doesn't exist? I think it already has.