Best energy healing books according to redditors
We found 214 Reddit comments discussing the best energy healing books. We ranked the 82 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 214 Reddit comments discussing the best energy healing books. We ranked the 82 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
I would say that it was widely used. I’m reading through Owen Davies’ Grimoires: A History of Magic Books right now and he has a whole section dedicated to the SATOR square. It shows up in grimoires all throughout the Middle Ages from the Arab world to Spain and continues to appear all the way up until the 18th century. You’re correct that no one now has any idea why it was so important but it’s clear from the historical record that it was important enough that magicians kept spreading it about. No one thought to write down, however, why the SATOR square exists, what it means, or how to use it so it exists an enigmatic and intriguing magickal artifact, much like these items from Pompeii.
Okay, I looked at your other post via your profile. I've been through that. You can go the psychiatric route, or you can go the psychic protection route, or you can do both. (I take Lithium, have a diagonisis of "Schizoaffective disorder," and do protection workings as well). My advice would be to do the protection workings, not tell anyone (including your doctor) about them, and get on medications to be safe.
The rational explanation is you're experiencing "delusions of reference" as well as obsessive compulsive intrusive thinking. If you think you're going to do anything crazy (as in, violent towards yourself or others) out of desperation, definitely get medical help or call the authorities. If you need some resources, try your local NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) branch. It is better to wind up on a psych ward doped up on benzos than in a prison cell block or the far side of eternity. Having said that, our friends in rationality land should be the first to readily admit nobody knows what the fuck is going on with psychosis. I was a total mess before I got serious about protection magic, and it's eliminated or severely reduced many of my symptoms.
Now, psychiatry may or may not work; I've found antipsychotics and antidepressants are worse than sugar pills for me (they make me sick as hell and cause me to put on weight, but apparently work for other people, however), and warding, shielding, banishing, etc.- basic defensive workings, practiced regularly- do way more to help with the symptoms. On the other hand, Lithium works really well with me- mellows me out and enables me to focus, read, and be productive (I was unable to focus on reading materials for almost a decade after the onset of whatever the hell happened). Your mileage may vary. I've come to the conclusion that I've got both a mental disorder and uh, unwanted visitors and energies trying to barge in regularly.
Get used to the fact that you might not be able to watch TV (including YouTube videos, movies, etc.) for a while, if ever again. You're not going to have a normal life, at least not for a while. I don't bother with film media of any sort.
Here's a few resources you might find handy, however strange they may be:
Spiritual Protection by Sophie Reicher
Protection and Reversal Magic by Jason Miller
Basically it works like this. If you do the protection work (occult stuff) and get no results, DEFINITELY get into psychiatric care. If you get into psychiatric care and don't get results, at least TRY defensive workings. Do both if you want to be safe, which is probably what you want right now. If you do both, I really don't recommend talking to the psychiatrist about any spiritual/magical practices; in any event that's your business, not theirs.
The Sophie Reicher book is the superior one in my opinion, not to knock Jason Miller.
If you've got more questions, I'll help if I can.
If you watch weed 3 you'll see how people trying to research on it get stone walled by the feds but they give people cannabis for medicinal purposes.
All the studies have been on focused on THC. The problem with CBD is that the science is focusing on it and the authorities are like "it's illegal no". When you compare this to kids with dravet syndrome who have fatal form of epilepsy and they die from it, when they perform well from CBD, the CBD does something no other pharmaceutical drug for epilepsy can, there's no pharmaceutical equivalent. Then when people try to do studies they are blocked. It's a complete cluster fuck. In Weed 2 people with epileptic children migrate to Colorado in hopes to get access to CBD because traditional treatments don't work. If only these people realized that the federal government already give out THC as medicine legally, these people are fighting for CBD only. The funny thing is was that THC is a prescribable drug because they synthesized it calling it Dronabinol/MARINOL and it's Schedule III
I'm not overly familiar with study culture and studies, but I do notice a trend in people that go deep into looking at the studies, first of all anyone that looks into studies, looks into it themselves and doesn't proclaim for them to be spoon fed to them by other people. If your wife takes CBD seriously she'll look them up herself.
Here's one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/
An announcement of positive results by GW phermecuticals: https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/209943/gw-pharma-soars-on-news-of-positive-trial-for-cannabis-based-epilepsy-drug-209943.html
The guy in the first clip did a review of the "literature" and made a book called "marihuana reconsidered". What literature? I don't know but i'm sure it's cited in that book. The literature is there but it's never been taken seriously.
Here's two women who looked at studies for themselves and wrote books about their finding, Multiple Sclerosis and diet, and another about the Placebo effect:
The Wahl Protocol - https://www.amazon.com/Wahls-Protocol-Autoimmune-Conditions-Principles/dp/1583335544/
Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself - https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Medicine-Scientific-Yourself/dp/1401939996/
Ok, I can tell you that that sounds exactly like kundalini awakening. I've had symptoms too, but not that severe. It's going to be a wild ride for you, let me tell you, but at the end of it all you will be enlightened and be in constant bliss. Make sure you try and aim the energy up your central channel called the sushumna. it can be really bad if it gets forced up the left or right sides. I'd recommend getting in contact with some kind of kundalini yoga teacher to help guide you through this. Usually only advanced yogis attempt to raise their kundalini. The goal is to get the kundalini to go to the top of your head where the energies will merge and change your whole body and consiousness. I'd recommend reading these books:
http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Rising-Exploring-Energy-Awakening/dp/B0054U5DXU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334630716&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Tantra-Re-print-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787158/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1334630716&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-The-Evolutionary-Energy-Man/dp/1570622809/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334630754&sr=1-1
These sites will also give you a good idea:
http://swamij.com/index-yoga-meditation-kundalini.htm
http://www.aypsite.org/index.html
http://www.kundaliniawakeningsystems1.com/index.html#.T4zZ1TJYv-I
YOU'RE NOT CRAZY. This is very real and serious and you have to educate yourself. Send me a pm if you ever have any questions. I've read a lot about this and can give you advice. If you could find some kind of spiritual teacher that would be great. This can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Read the Gopi Krishna book. He gives his account of how he accidentally had a kundalini awakening and it totally fucked him over for 10 years. He almost died, but that's because he didn't know what it was and had no info available to him. God speed bro.
For low magic, there is a wealth of witchcraft and folk magic that predates Gerald Gardner. It is not really initiatory, despite what a few people claim about coming from a long line of witches. Historically, it mostly came from books, folklore, and local customs. This book by Owen Davis is a great way to learn about magic and witchcraft that existed prior to Wicca (and was largely appropriated by Wicca).
The African diaspora in the Caribbean and the Americas created numerous magical practices (some associated with religion, some not). This includes hoodoo, Palo Mayombe (the black magic side of Santeria), Maria Lionza, and probably others that I don't know about. Magical practitioners in these traditions typically don't call themselves "witches," but their practices definitely fall under the category of witchcraft.
Yes. Watch from 1 hour and 17 min in:
r/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhtU5ei6YaM&t=247s
In terms of learning to work with energy the number one most important thing IMO is to learn to really ground/root your energy. That can be done very deeply through standing meditation postures from qigong (called Zhan Zhuang). You can also directly learn to sink your energy.
A few good books for learning to do standing meditation and to ground
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Mastering-Internal-Strength/dp/0671736450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536310978&sr=8-1&keywords=way+of+energy
https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311094&sr=1-1&keywords=opening+the+energy+gates+of+your+body
And for working with energy in general:
https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Promise-Qi-Creating-Extraordinary/dp/0809295288/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0809295288&pd_rd_r=f2a13599-b27c-11e8-ad5d-f9d1f1abea37&pd_rd_w=jSsme&pd_rd_wg=PHn62&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=4E6D4PWEM54GBZ9TJKQP&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=4E6D4PWEM54GBZ9TJKQP&dpID=51wRmSyNaFL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail
https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Light-Tao-Foundational-Practices-ebook/dp/B004J4WM6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311129&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+light+of+the+tao
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Qigong-Science-Chinese-Healing/dp/0345421094/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311155&sr=1-1&keywords=way+of+qigong
I'm afraid I can't give you a book that functions as a good and popular introduction to the history of Alchemy – there's one for the Grimoire tradition, for example. My interests are more academic, so my recommendations are going to be academic works. That being said, the history of alchemy intersects very well with other interests (say, the development of Renaissance Humanism, or medieval philosophy). My own focus is the development of Boyle's New Science, and so a figure like George Starkey is of particular interest. Despite my own reservations regarding their work, William Newman's Gehennical Fire, along with his and Lawrence Principe's Alchemy Tried in the Fire serve as excellent introductions to this particular era (17th century).
But I'll do some digging through my own notes in a few hours, and see if I can't come up with some more recommendations.
Here is most of my library, broken down, with links and some thoughts on each.
Karate Specific
Kobujutsu Specific
Other Martial Arts
Health and Anatomy
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot this one...
Best book resource would be The Reiki Sourcebook by Bronwen and Frans Steine. My favorite online resource is aetw.org. Reiki tends to be one of the basic and entry-level energy practices for most people and it's quite limited in that it has specific hand positions and a few symbols, but most people won't explain the meaning behind the symbols in anything but a superficial way. The book I mentioned above helps to go deeper into their meanings and uses. I also posted an energy exercise on my profile called "Singing Chakra Balancing Technique" that can basically replace using the symbols. The symbols were meant to be training wheels for those who can't feel energy and have no power in and of themselves, so if you are interested in Reiki, you should learn them but don't feel limited to using them if your intuition tells you otherwise.
I know of no kundalini yoga books dealing with sexuality specifically.
Reddit has no kundaliniyoga subreddit, so I'm unsure how many of their practitioners might explore here in /r/kundalini. Kundalini yoga is more about growth over-all in a smoothened gentle but rigorous method. You might google for a kundalini yoga forum and ask there.
I am more than familiar with kundalini, and have explored the tantric path. Most tantric paths and yogas have, as an aim, to awaken or stir up kundalini.
Kundalini isn't usually done in order to improve sexuality nor libido, yet those can be side effects.
Some Tantra-focused books with good foundations for kundalini that I've read which you might find useful. They don't go deeply into the kundalini topic as "an exhaustive treatise".
In my experienced opinion, the best book on kundalini by far is:
Kundalini and the Chakras: Evolution in this lifetime
Tantra comes in three main flavours. White, pink and red. White focuses on spirituality, with increased pleasure as a bonus. Red focuses on increased pleasure, with spiritual growth as a bonus. Pink is the middle ground between the two. Books don't usually claim to be one or the other. Experienced teachers help define it for students.
Any of the tantric or yogic exercises will do several things including decrease stress and increase your prana or life energy. It's not uncommon for those factors alone to raise libido and sex drive, at times unpredictably. Add the exercise, oxygenation, muscle tension release and circulation effects and you have WOW!!
The idea is to let the effects of the energy increase bring benefits to more than just your sexuality. You should be open to benefit on many levels. Yes?
If you're experiencing whacko libido levels, it is also possible that you've stirred kundalini up to the second chakra (counting chakras depends upon the chakra system - there are many variations and understandings), which is responsible for sexuality, reproduction, recreation, creativity, etc. This is the one about half-way between your pelvic bone and your belly button. If so, learning what it means to raise or draw the energy to chakras higher up the body can be useful here.
If one is going to explore kundalini, then it can be more than helpful to be aware of and practicing some of the supporting wisdoms. These can be from either yoga (Namas and Niyamas) or from Taoism / Buddhism / Zen. A glance in wikipedia can get you started, or the sidebar in /r/meditation.
Various kundalini approaches make no requests for you to be a prude. The idea is to find a healthy balance. Occasionally, the practice of Brahmacharya, or non-sexuality, is used to highten the tension and possibly provoke more energy to direct itself in a kundalini-stirring direction. It could be useful for you to understand some of the methods and intentions of Brahmacharya.
Having experience in any or several varied meditation practices is almost an essential prerequisite to a good kundalini experience. Nothing beats taking courses with living beings to build a good foundation to your practice. In this case it doesn't matter as much what form you choose, but that you do choose, learn, play, and develop a deeper understanding of mind, self, etc.
Be aware that the techniques listed in the books can bring about significant advances involving lots of change, and inspire the kind of growth one might prefer to have support going through.
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Some books I've only glanced at and was not drawn to buy nor read fully at the time - several on this search list.
Amazon search
You could explore some Osho books, though I recommend his books with some caution as he was considered by some to not bother passing on the wisdom that was meant to go with the techniques he taught. It's apparently one of the two reasons he was booted out of India, and perhaps related to the paranoia that some of his students expressed in Oregon. Still, his writings are fresh and fun, and he had a brilliant mind. He wrote many dozens or hundreds of books, and I've read but a half-dozen, so you're on your own on this author.
Also to consider: Kriya yoga and pranayama.
I haven't done any Bikram, so have no idea if pranayama is a part of their practice.
Good luck.
Edit: formatting
This is about Shin Buddhism specifically, but is pretty exceptional:
https://www.amazon.com/Shin-Buddhism-Bits-Rubble-Turn/dp/0385504691
This is a novel, and also about Shin Buddhism, but:
https://www.amazon.com/Tariki-Embracing-Despair-Discovering-Peace/dp/4062099810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520609290&sr=1-1&keywords=tariki
Not all scam artists; Diane Stein is still alive and well and offering half hour sessions for $125, and workshops for $600.
Pretty steep, but given that she was the first to make Reiki widely accessible via print and her book on Reiki is a modern classic, I don't see her fees as excessive for those who can afford it and want to go that route. But then again, that's Diane Stein, and she's more than established her creds, IMO.
I am a beginner as well, but I will share the books I'm working my way through. They are not necessarily all beginner books as they range from general overviews to very thorough reference manuals. I hope you find something on the list that helps.
Most have Kindle samples you can download if you use Amazon.
Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F8FA6ZG/
The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XAZ625E/
The New Chinese Medicine Handbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZS8R0/
The Spark in the Machine: How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICS8MIE/
The Healer Within: Using Traditional Chinese Techniques To Release Your Body's Own Medicine Movement Massage Meditation Breathing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D184QVW/
Optimal Healing: A Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979948495/
Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition (3rd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556434308/
Recipes for Self Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0952464020/
The Ancient Wisdom of the Chinese Tonic Herbs https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446675067/
The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345421094/
Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine: Zhong Yi Xue Ji Chu (Paradigm title) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0912111445/
Secrets of Self-Healing: Harness Nature's Power to Heal Common Ailments, Boost Your Vitality,and Achieve Optimum Wellness https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ZJY5X4/
The Acupuncture Handbook: How Acupuncture Works and How it Can Help You https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GW4MG3W/
The Chinese Way to Healing: Many Paths to Wholeness https://www.amazon.com/dp/0595399509/
Acupuncture Points Handbook: A Patient's Guide to the Locations and Functions of over 400 Acupuncture Points https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D35N6SJ/
The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets of Health, Longevity, & Enlightenment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FIICLXC/
Chinese Medical Herbology & Pharmacology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0974063509/
Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0939616424/
Finally, here's a few books by Mantak Chia that are profound, enlightening, vulgar, dangerous, or just aweful, depending on who you ask. I haven't read any of them but they made my list for some reason just to check out. I have a feeling he's an author people very much either like or dislike:
Chi Self-Massage: The Taoist Way of Rejuvenation https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594771103/
Awaken Healing Through the Tao: The Taoist Secret of Circulating Internal Power https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NGTUSV4/
Awaken Healing Light of the Tao https://www.amazon.com/dp/0935621466/
Healing Light of the Tao: Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J4WM6S/
I really like Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davis. It covers magical books that were influential in western Europe, and is a good place to start for people interested in reading old grimoires.
So what makes you so sure that receiving the electrical balancing over a longer period of time doesn't have any effect on the human body?
If you want to learn more about his practice, I suggest you read a few books written about him by his students.
The Magus of Java
http://www.amazon.com/Magus-Java-Teachings-Authentic-Immortal/dp/0892818131/
Nei Kung
http://www.amazon.com/Nei-Kung-Secret-Teachings-Warrior/dp/0892819073/
There are more video's of Chang on youtube and his top western student Jim McMillan
Video of Jim passing his level 3 test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKuXuDCPfds
This is an interview with his top western student Jim.
http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/five-questions-with-mo-pai-nei-kung-expert/
> While I cannot assume the knowledge of all people in the hongwanji, the ones I have spoken to have given that specific reason or similar. It is a very small community, and most of them are very old.
Fair enough. I've just seen similar statements before and I tend to take them with a grain of salt because the live Dharma talks I check out on youtube and podcasts reference plenty of Buddhist topics and scriptures.
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> Yes, and I think it's because English doesn't have more nuance in the words we use, so all the services and songs just sound like worship, which has made me more uncomfortable and unsure of myself over time.
There is a devotional aspect; yes, but it may not be what you're thinking. One of the running themes in Shin hymns is that Amida represents the light of wisdom and the great compassion that supports you every moment in your life. Most Shin ministers will point out that this great compassion ranges from the animals that died in the production of your food, to the chain of relatives that led to your mom bearing you for 9 months, to the people that pave the road you drive on to go about your daily business. They will refer to that infinite chain of cause and effect that brings you to this current moment as "Amida". The Midwest Buddhist Temple podcast is a good source for this type of info, I believe there are over 200 episodes available for free.
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> But also, can we not continue to try to follow the eightfold path in hopes that we can entrust Buddha to take us to the Promised Land?
Yikes, what an unfortunate word choice. The Pure Land is either a Buddha-field (field of Buddha perception, adorned with a Buddha's merits from eons of practice) where one directly learns from Buddhas & Bodhisattvas to continue on the path towards Buddhahood (the rather simple understanding), or the Pure Land is the formless realm of Nirvana (the more advanced understanding). In either case, the Pure Land is not a paradise in the Christian sense. Entrusting in the Buddha to enter the Pure Land is following the eightfold path.
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> Or we already have to have this belief before we can really help ourselves?
As I said before, it's very little to do with belief & more to do with overcoming mental chatter. Using the self to transcend the self is a fool's errand according to Shin; but even Shin greats like Kiyozawa Manshi had to exhaust self-powered pursuits before finally realizing to entrust the Buddha. FYI - there are some very strong parallels with Zen here. I recommend Dogen's Zazen as Other-Power Practice by Taigen Dan Leighton
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> For me it is more of a "I think this is an actual thing that can happen, but I don't know if I fully trust Buddha yet." Does that make sense?
Makes total sense. The trust part is the faith of Shin. Once that trust is there, one undergoes a radical shift in perception with regards to one's relationship with the world. It's kind of a radical self acceptance to realize that one is embraced just as one is.
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> Is Shinran even a Buddha?
He would never say so himself, but there's a statue of him at a Zen monastery near Tokyo (called Ho-onji) and they maintain the tradition that Shinran and Dogen were friends. I've run into other Zen people who said Shinran is considered an Enlightened being. I find Shinran fascinating because he's a completely relatable human being, rife with frailties, and brutally honest about it.
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> Then why is it so hard to find any books on it?
Let me give you a quick list of authors so you can find their books on Amazon:
Alfred Bloom
Taitetsu Unno
Jeff Wilson
Monshu Koshin Otani
Hiroyuki Itsuki
Kenneth Tanaka
Mark L Blum
DT Suzuki
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> The minister was going to teach the volunteers; we have a few months under him to learn them. This was moreso the main reason why I thought it might be good to do. I would have more one on one time with the minister. But Now that I word it like this, it seems maybe a little selfish to only volunteer for the chants for this purpose.
Shin patriarch Rennyo is the one that really started with encouraging followers to recite Shinran's hymns as a daily practice. So in that sense it's not selfish to really try to learn the basic doctrines of the sect, expressed in the hymns.
Google up "Nei Kung" and read this book for an introduction to the martial arts aspects. There are also a couple of mediation books translated by Charles Luk which relate to the Toaist philosophical context. Also, Wilhelm Riech has some interesting theories - not to mention his life is an example of Western bias against the subject. For Indian as opposed to Chinese, look up kundalini meditation.
For occult sources, the OP already metioned a couple, plus there are the obvious mentions for Aleister Crowley in the blog post.
Currently I am studying The Secrect of the Golden Flower which I found an excellent copy of at my local bookstore. Once you go through this and get the gist of what the practice entails you'll find all sorts of interesting findings in neuroscience as well.
On my list is Grimoires: A History of Magic Books.
Sorry for the delayed response. Honestly, after reviewing the book again, I have to say it's actually one of the better ones out there as far as REAL witchcraft goes. Witchcraft is not a religion, and it isn't politically correct. It's simply a set of practical methods to achieve one's goals, whether they be healing, defense, finding love etc. Though some of his ideas at the time are a little dated now, Paul Huson did an excellent job of laying out the principles of effective magick in simple terms. He even touched on elements of Hoodoo i.e. southern African-American folk magick, derived from African, European witchcraft, and Native American practices - see This Website for a thorough introduction to Hoodoo. This book by a real practitioner is also very good, though badly in need of editing.
Now that I've re-read sections of Mastering Witchcraft, I'm almost wishing I'd had it as my first book nearly 30 years ago heh. If you were to study and learn everything Huson's book has to offer, you'll have a better foundation in effective witchcraft than most Wiccan manuals out there today, many of which are extremely watered-down and geared more toward practices that make a person feel good about themselves without requiring much effort, or worse yet, practices that indulge a practitioner's need for attention or escapism. Pay particular attention to what he has to say about states of consciousness. Try to grasp the essence of why/how magick works as you read books such as this. Much of witchcraft/magick/ritual is done for symbolic purposes, with the physical objects/tools being used to focus and direct energy and intent, or as vessels for anchoring energy/intent to. Systems of correspondences help to link levels of reality and act as mental triggers to help re-enter specific states of consciousness.
At its core, magick is a Psychic skill. It is postulated that there are various levels of reality, from Oneness/God/Tao down to the Physical World and various points in between (see Yggdrasil, Tree of Life, Enneads of Plotinus, Plato's theory of forms etc. etc.). The most common forms of Magick work by injecting one's spell/intent into a higher level of reality (Astral Plane, Yesod etc.) in an effort to rewrite or reprogram the reality that is about to manifest. The effects then trickle down into manifestation through seemingly 'natural' means. Other forms involve creating energy links to targets and injecting power/intent through them while using poppets, photos, and other physical objects to help direct and focus the intent. Even more direct forms of influence can be performed through deliberate, conscious real-time energy manipulation, and this can become quite advanced.
Suggested books for developing your energy sensing/directing abilities include Franz Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics (he provides a fantastic though difficult set of exercises for self development) and Robert Bruce's New Energy Ways (ignore the new-agey way he writes - the methods are VERY effective for learning to sense and direct energy). To get ideas of what to do with energy for healing purposes and what energy might 'look like' to clairvoyants (or to you after you develop your clairvoyant skills), this book and this book may be very helpful. Ignore her new-age spin on the material. Her perceptions are pretty accurate.
I should mention that Paul Huson continued to produce useful books, btw. His book on the history of the Tarot is fantastic! There are other authors out there on Witchcraft that are worth perusing, but it is difficult to find authors who don't pander to new age feel-good beliefs. I tend to look for historical or anthropological works. Other areas that can be helpful are related topics such as Norse trancework and Runes (Jan Fries, Edred Thorsson), folk magick from various parts of the world, shamanism, hoodoo, brujeria (there are YouTube channels by serious practitioners of this), Egyptian and Greek religion/magick (again, look for serious scholarly books), and of course, Ceremonial Magick/Hermeticism. The origin of much of European occult terminology can be found in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, published in 1531.
Anyway, I hope that random collection of thoughts gives you some ideas for research. Mastering Witchcraft and similar books published in the 1970s are actually quite good introductions. I recommend absorbing what they have to offer, and looking deeper into the origins of the practices described.
Did you read my post with the two books i recommend? IF NOT THEN READ THIS POST.
Working directly with moving energy while stimulating yourself is not really effective if you don't sense energy deeply enough in the first place.If you do sense it deeply enough you can just stimulate yourself to a 9 then take the pleasure in your genitals and move it in the MCO until you feel in your genitals you're at around a 4 or 5..then begin stimulating yourself again to a 9 and move the pleasure again in the orbit.Don't waste you time with using kegels at PONR...even if you manage to get some orgasm it's weak and some ejaculate gets into your bladder...so it's not that effective to restrain from ejaculating if you're just going to have some of it go into the bladder.
You need to understand that energy orgasms are not about using kegels when you're close to ejaculating...it's about circulating enough arousal and building it up to a point that orgasms just appear as a side effect and you do that without kegeling . You can use mula bandha to shoot energy up your spine...but that presumes you have enough sensitivity to energy in the first place to be able to do it.Otherwise just doing mula bandha for hundreds of repetitions is just going to trigger at some point ejaculations. You use mula bandha not like you use kegels...you use it as a pump for energy....but again it's useless if t you don't feel it well enough to direct it thru your intention+mula bandha.
I just feel like most here try to use a broom without a handle or a handle without having attached the "brush"(I don't know what's it called,English is not my native tongue).
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AND THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL...FOCUS ONLY ON ENJOYING THE PLEASURE YOU FEEL MOMENT BY MOMENT(EVEN IF IT'S NOT MUCH)...IF YOU DO THAT HIGHER INTENSITY OF PLEASURE CAN APPEAR WITH PRACTICE...IF YOU FOCUS ON ORGASMING...OR WANTING TO ORGASM...YOU WILL SABOTAGE YOURSELF AND KEEP YOUR PLEASURE CAPACITY STRAINED AND INFERIOR.
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SECOND TIP...SMALL AND MORE SIGNIFICANT TRAUMAS DESENSITIZE YOUR BODY'S CAPACITY FOR PLEASURE...MEANING YOUR PLEASURE IS "BLOCKED"/"CAPPED" AT A SMALL "BANDWIDTH". THAT'S' WHY NEOTANTRA TEACHERS KEEP REPEATING TO JUST STAY WITH PAINFUL MEMORIES OR SENSATIONS AND RELAX INTO THEM,INITIALLY IT DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK BUT WITH TIME YOU CAN SEE PAINFUL EMOTIONS LOOSE THEIR UNPLEASANT CHARGE AND SOME TIMES IT CHANGES FROM UNPLEASANT TO PLEASANT AND CATHARTIC. YOU'LL GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK BY PRACTICING FEELING YOUR UNPLEASANT FEELINGS DEEPLY AND EMBRACING THEM...JUST AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE TO EMBRACE PLEASANT FEELINGS...BECAUSE THEY ARE PLEASURABLE TO FEEL. YOU CAN READ THIS BOOK TO GET STARTED WITH WORKING WITH EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL PAIN https://www.amazon.com/Break-Through-Pain-Step-Step/dp/B001CB6A0A
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~MEDITATION MASTERY~MEDITATION IS WHAT BUILDS YOUR AWARENESS AND ATTENTION SKILLS...THE BETTER THEY ARE THE BETTER YOU CAN FEEL PLEASURE.
FOR WORKING WITH SHINZEN'S THOROUGH MEDITATION SYSTEM HERE IS A MANUAL THAT'S QUITE CHALLENGING BUT ABSOLUTELY WORH IT. http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf
Currently, by far the best book for learning to meditate in the Vipassana/Mindfulness tradition is The Mind Illuminated, by Culadasa (John Yates). This massive tome takes you one step at a time through a system of 10 stages—based on your level of concentration.
This book also offers an entire brain-based theory of meditation—catnip for the neuroscience junkies among us (although it’s also problematic as theory) —as well as expert advice on deeper levels of meditation, many additional meditation techniques, and a method of analytical meditation. Furthermore, Culadasa has a whole appendix section that makes sense of the “jhana wars” (my term, not his) by adding a dimension of depth to the usual dimension of the jhana numbers. This is a huge step forward.
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BUILDING YOUR ATTENTION IN A PLEASURABLE WAY THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE STRAINING/TENSING YOU CAN FIND IN THE BOOK BELOW:
https://www.amazon.com/Path-Nibbana-Mindfulness-Loving-Kindness-Progresses-ebook/dp/B06WRPZZQF
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FOR WORKING WITH ENERGY YOU NEED THE PREREQUISITES(WHAT NEOTANTRA AND CHIA DOESN'T REALLY TEACH PROPERLY)-
https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Work-Secrets-Spiritual-Development-ebook/dp/B005EXYB4O
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THIRD TIP...USE VOWELS AND TONE THEM INTO YOUR CHAKRA LOCATIONS FOR 10 MINUTES/PER CHAKRA...UNTIL YOU FEEL THE TISSUE IN THE CHAKRA LOCATIONS VIBRATING,TINGLING. CHOOSE ONE VOWEL AND TONE IT 10 MINUTES AT EVERY CHAKRA LOCATION. THEN CHOOSE ANOTHER VOWEL AND USE IT IN THE SAME DAY OR THE NEXT DAY. A,E,I,O,U and HA( Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ) ETC. don't use actual sanskrit mantras because you're invoking those deities into you.Stick to just vowels alone or the HA sound as describe in it's modern form " Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ".
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FORTH TIP-
A) WHILE STIMULATING YOURSELF BREATH VERY SLOWLY INTO YOUR LOWER ABDOMEN...SUPER LONG INBREATHS AND SUPER LONG OUTBREATHS INTO YOUR LOWER BELLY.INBREATHS AND OUTBREATHS STAY EQUAL IN DURATION.
B) THIS IS MORE ADVANCED BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE YOUR BREATH IS YOUR LOVER THAT CARESSES YOUR BODY,YOUR ORGANS,YOUR EVERY CELL...YOU IMAGINE THIS NOT VISUALLY BUT IN A TACTILE WAY.AVOID TO USE YOUR VISUAL FACULTIES,USE ONLY YOUR TOUCH/TACTILE SENSE OF IMAGINING THE BREATH TOUCHING ON AN INTO YOUR BODY. IT ACTS JUST LIKE A FEATHER ACTS WHILE YOU GENTLY MOVE IT OVER YOUR SKIN.
The symbols and such are pretty much available online or in various books; it used to be much more like a secret than it is now. It's easy enough to find them.
For example, this book has pretty much all of what you'd learn from any instructor you'd paid to teach you. In fact when I went through my training for the first and second levels, a lot of what was in our hand books came directly from this book. I had been reading this book before I attended any classes and recognized some of it word for word.
I'd choose outside over home even if home were quiet, or outside was relatively noisy. I deliberately try to "ground" myself each day for health reasons, and might as well meditate at the same time even if the two combined aren't more than the combination of the parts :-)
As for forest v mountains, I don't know. If there was water nearby I'd head towards that. Why not alternate?
("Lucky" you to have such a choice)
Edit: http://www.amazon.com/Earthing-Most-Important-Health-Discovery/dp/1591202833
Where would internal alchemy and meditation practice fall into this categorization? I will assume it as part of daojiao.
>engaging with Daojiao does require faith in unseen and scientifically unverifiable things like deities and transcendents. (Which does not make Daojiao incorrect, only faith-based.)
Admittedly, starting internal alchemy is somewhat faith based. It took some suspension of disbelief (and youthful optimism) to consider the John Chang videos (Neikung Power and John Chang - Using Chi to set things on fire). As well, to consider the anecdotes throughout many mystic traditions and come to some consensus about their reality. For example, things from Autobiography of a Yogi, or Kosta Danos's books, Magus of Java: Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal and Nei Kung: The Secret Teachings of the Warrior Sages, or in Opening the Dragon Gate: Making of a Modern Taoist Wizard.
Rather than looking at it as scientific evidence I consider it in the same way a historian would. We have a few first hand accounts of amazing phenomena. A ton of anecdote which convinced me to try things out. So, in a sense, this is faith. However, as you practice and experience things it is less based on faith and more based on experience. I am not claiming to have some ability that takes the Randi prize, but you have enough small experiences that you then believe there is something more and something worth training for.
My goal in training is to entirely take away the faith based aspect of internal alchemy. If at the end of my life I've achieved nothing reproducible, I'll come out and say that. If I have though, I would love to demonstrate it, and study it to an extent, so that others may practice without having to believe in what science doesn't support. I am actually amazed how militant some people can be about science based evidence when there are so many major blindspots in science. There is a lot we don't know and it is worth investigating what is possible. How amazing would it be to have a religion based on verifiable results? Spiritual development that develops an actual spirit? This is my dream, it would put so many of the current institutions in the dust.
And some good books to start with:
https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Promise-Qi-Creating-Extraordinary/dp/0809295288
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Qigong-Science-Chinese-Healing/dp/0345421094/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525452385&sr=1-1&keywords=ken+cohen
https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Light-Tao-Foundational-Practices-ebook/dp/B004J4WM6S/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525452407&sr=1-6&keywords=mantak+chia
Down vote when the post doesn't offer anything to the discussion, not when you don't like someone(s) mentioned in the post. I'm sorry to see closed minded actions on this reddit. OP asked for any help. Only one other reply gave a definite reference. Here's my third for anyone interested in this subject:
Another book to consider is Barbara Ann Brennans Hands of Light.
I have read things which indicate that your belief that you are helping your patients and their belief that they are being helped can have a significant impact on their outcome. I'm skeptical, but this book is interesting. So if your patients feel more confident and you feel more confident then I agree that what you are wearing for work seems right.
What I noticed though is how you said that dressing more girly makes you feel vulnerable. I think that part of intimacy with a man is letting yourself be vulnerable with him, so maybe keep that in mind as you adjust your non work mindset.
Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic
https://www.amazon.com/Qabalah-Qliphoth-Goetic-Thomas-Karlsson/dp/0972182063
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Grimoires: A History of Magic Books:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKY6MZM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
If she's a good reader, I'd recommend Grimoires, one of the smartest non-fiction books I've ever read on the subject. About 1/5 of it is references/bibliography. Advanced my knowledge by more per hour than anything I can remember reading.
As far as I'm aware he works with energy beings he calls "guides" that are among us in some way. He calls on them mentally/spiritually to share their energy, and he serves as the bridge connecting you to the energy. Not very sure of the origin of the practice. It does involve a bit of being chosen by the guides but I'm not sure about the exclusivity. He does have children, and also some students he informally teaches to connect his way. Don't know where he started from yet.
Practices generally involve the patient standing with eyes closed while he stands by arms wide open. Next thing you know he takes a deep breath and exhales and you're spinning/twirling like a top involuntarily and your hands want to come up as if under water. If you don't twirl the force of the energy will make you fall over. This process connects you to the universe/guides opening up your crown. Always makes you giggly because the energy comes as a shock as it pushes you.
Then he will have you lie on your back and he'll place his hand on your head. His hands gets very hot as he guides you through a meditative journey to receive the energy you need. Meanwhile you see bright colors while eyes closed and you feel like you are radiating with energy/light. It feels amazing and your mood improves dramatically as your physical pain fades away. This practice may be different in some cases with specific illnesses.
Look up "subtle energy" and this book called "Hands of Light" both his suggestions. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553345397?pc_redir=1404445078&robot_redir=1
Yes, it sounds/looks to me like you see energy ("chakras" are part of that). I could be wrong, but I'd look into it more if I were you anyways. You would probably make a really good energy healer and/or medical intuitive. Check out the Hands of Light book (http://www.amazon.com/Hands-Light-Healing-Through-Energy/dp/0553345397/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347945502&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+hands). I also prefer Pranic Healing over Reiki (Reiki is more commonly known). http://pranichealing.com/
I can send more info on people/books/etc if you want.
If you want a simple how-to guide for a western audience this is what you are looking for.
If you have an interest in yoga, you will want to learn about it as part of the whole vamachara or "left-handed-path" (in yoga, having sex is plan b - the right handed path is celibate. most choose the middle way). The best intro to that is through kundalini. This is a good intro text if you want a book. If you just want straight info this website is great.
Welcome, and to answer your implied first question...yes. It is a lonely path. While you could find a guru, instructor, or teacher that can help guide you and help you understand when Kundalini is awakening, it is basically what you do in your meditation and what you choose to do to aid in that release.
All the above people can only give you the tools for awakening the Kundalini, you have to be the one to actually use those tools. One such tool that has been recommended in a few threads is a book called Kundalini & the Chakras. I have it myself and it is a good book. It teaches you many techniques to practice to initiate Kundalini awakening. But there are some things in the middle of the book that give too much information, I can see you needing those skills sometime after you have achieved the awakening.
Also there are a lot of really good people in this forum that are more than willing to help you. Good luck on your path. Namasti!!
If you are trying to make a database of sorts in regards to how auras work, I'd recommend start catalogueing your own experiences and intereactions, because the symbols and colors you use / experience will speak directly to you and may have different meanings.
HOWEVER check this book out if you want more info on the topic
Light Emerging: The Journey of Personal Healing
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Emerging-Journey-Personal-Healing/dp/0553354566/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8N0A4J20F57GP4Y57KH5
this has some of the most comprehensive examinations of the aura i have ever seen with diagrams and full on explanation on the "Science" behind it
You CAN learn some of it from books - the rest you'll have to do through spirit work and guidance. There are 2 books by Barbara Ann Brennan that will get you started on viewing and manipulating the aura and structures within it. They're a little new agey, but the info is fairly solid and effective, and they're regularly used as part of the teaching curriculum for naturopathic/alternative health/massage/reiki type courses at accredited colleges. Go through her first book before delving into her 2nd book. As a supplement, you should also read and practice Robert Bruce's New Energy Ways material. It will get you in shape for energy sensing and manipulation. MUCH magick and healing can be done with the techniques in his book alone!
The books listed so far are good for philosophy and contemplation. Try some internal energy cultivation. See what happens. These books are very good, legit quality information and instructions, not new-age fluff. But they are still appropriate for a beginner. Yudelove's book is nice because it has a structured 14-week course with exercises to do on your own.
Yudelove
Frantzis
It's really not easy to describe, as I can trigger the phenomenon at will to either flood my body or direct it to a specific point, but not always easily or with a very high level precision. I think that's due to a kind of "exhaustion" if done too frequently or too intensely. I don't really think about something while doing it, more just "willing" the experience to occur.
I can personally attest to an adrenaline component involved in at least triggering a full body rush. My pupils will dilate and holding it too intensely for too long, or rapidly triggering the full body rush leaves me feeling uneasy/anxious. I have in fact triggered a full blown panic attack before when I was bored one day and rapidly triggered it as intensely as I could.
I can also attest that the relaxation response is the complementary "opposite" to this phenomena. It is the tool I use now if I ever push the experience too far.
I believe this may be the qi energy that is worked with during qigong. The best western description I've found of training/practicing using and gaining precise control over something that is at least very similar to this is Robert Bruce's method in his book Energy Work. The best verbal description of how this works I've found is from qigong instructors talking about "Yi" leading "Qi."
You should start with basic standing qigong and a beginners qigong set. This will help you learn to feel and sink your chi a bit. From there you can move into more complex chi practices like tai chi.
I am a practitioner and proponent of the Bruce Frantzis system, which Bruce co-designed with Daoist master Liu Hung Chieh while he was studying in China.
His intro to standing and the first qigong set is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460
He also has a lot more content on his website related to various chi practices and meditation: http://www.energyarts.com/
First, RESPECT, for working with the dying and grieving. That is profound, and highly important work.
To reiterate other's here, you don't sound 'crazy', only opening to something that had value and an accepted place in antiquity and pre-modern societies (arguably it does now also, but not necessarily through any official institutions, it still seems to be a fringe activity and 'gift' not accepted by the sciences).
A starting point to placing your inner experiences into a broader context, which may help with self-understanding and integration through the process, might be:
Channeling. There are numerous other texts of similar material around. Check them out?
As to matters of grounding, other's advice here seems sound.
A somatic practice might prove helpful, like hatha yoga, or perhaps continuing meditation but practicing it in a different way, seeing as you are already meditating? Anapanasati, how to practice breath meditation, which focuses on the breath and thus has more of a grounding and bodily based attention brought to the process could be useful in this context. I've personally had trouble with dissociation and found sitting with a piece of obsidian and/or black tourmaline held in both my hands while sitting cross-legged or lying flat on my back, and focusing into the stone with my mind while being mindful to both my breath and body a helpful way of grounding and generating containment in/as my body.
Although the following book is primarily about working with energy healing it discusses channeling and contains diagrams of exercises that help a practitioner working with subtle forces to stay grounded and balanced, it might also be worth your time Hands of Light.
Salutations!
"Few people know it, but the ground provides a subtle electric signal that maintains health"
Mmh I think I'd pass on this Sinatra guy. Listened a few minutes on his talk about Cholesterol as well, and he mentions that cholesterol is necessary for making sex hormones like testosterone (and that get people's attention!)...but does not mention that vegans have the highest testosterone levels despite eating no dietary cholesterol. Seems like a doctor that just tries to sell as much of his stuff as possible, no offense (maybe even getting sponsorships as the industry involving cholesterol is humongous).
And with life expectancy, how many children would have to die young to bring the number up? According to Paleo sources, average caveman live expectancy was 25 years, so if 2/3 births ended in deaths, that would mean you get to 75 years old, almost today's standard. But that means 2/3 newborns died! We could use that logic in today's society as well. Take Swaziland, for example, lowest life expectancy in the world at around 50 years. If every other birth would end up in a death, that would mean most people lived 100 years, but that is not the case at all (1/10 at most). I'd say that if you think that 25 years life expectancy is fine, then consider if you'd like to be born in Swaziland, live their life with their life expectancy. If someone chooses that, sure for them, but simply saying "theoretically this can be misleading" is not proof enough to say it is the complete reverse. It hurts to quote this paleo source but you can ask yourself if the graph is likely, that every other child dies in infancy (the page itself is even quoting it's reference to caveman infant mortality as "sketchy"). Also not linking the mentioned studies so they can be reviewed, and knowing most patterns of life, there would not be 0 deaths between 10-40 years and again 50-60 years, as one does not get resistant to diseases just because one is older than 10.
Barbara Brennan's Hands of Light and Light Emerging are two classics --highly recommended.
Oh! Another one I read that was fascinating was Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. As it gets closer to modern day, it shows how capital M Magic (spells and such) started to intersect with magic and illusion.
Here are some that haven't been recommended:
Yang is very scientific. Deng is practical, some of his other books are more spiritual and one chronicles his master's life and more like a crazy novel. Frantzis is also quite practical and most informative regarding martial arts. All three have classic understanding of Chinese medicine, haven't come across any new age BS in their writing.
Each author has other books that you should look into.
Well there are a ton of books on the subject. The Serpent Power is probably not the best place to start because it is highly technical. I will recommend a few books to get you started. The thing is that books on this subject range greatly on topics covered. And there are a lot of "new-agey" type books also. They all range from technical instruction to feel-good stories about the authors life. If you let me know specifically what you are looking for, maybe I can provide more specific knowledge. Anyways, here are a list of books to get you started.
Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening This is a great book because it is a collection of articles that cover all sorts of topics relating to Kundalini. You have a spectrum of new-agey authors to the scientifically minded authors, and all the gradations in-between. Highly recommended to get started.
The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, C. G. Jung Transcript of a lecture given by Jung regarding Kundalini. Also a great starting point. He talks a lot about the chakras as well.
Kundalini & the Chakras: Evolution in this Lifetime was recommended by /u/Marc-le-Half-Fool above. I bought it and do recommend it myself.
The Biology of Kundalini This book in invaluable. It is available for free online as well as available for purchase. It contains very detailed descriptions of properly living with Kundalini (mindset, diet, exercises, much more).
Let me know if I can offer any other suggestions.
Here is the mobile version of your link
To put things into context, the use of magical books is somewhat of a forgotten part of western history. All of those things were extremely common until fairly recently. There's a really good book on the subject by Owen Davies, that I highly recommend fir anyone curious about the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKY6MZM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
Sorry for the delay. The biggest insight was when I read about baboon culture on the Gary Wilsons porn Addiction Website. Maybe i didn't read it there at all, I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to find it... anyway.
This is a gem I've kept to myself because of the serious implications it has but I guess I've left the cat out of the bag because I just want the world to be a better place. I will share it freely. Baboons hierarchy is governed by dopamine receptors, presumably all mammal hierarchies are governed by dopamine receptor amount. Beta male (normal) baboons have normal amounts of dopamine receptors, Alpha male (King Dick) baboon have even more dopamine receptors than betas, they are the only ones with the most... until they get knocked off their throne. The new alpha male grows more while the old alpha loses dopamine receptors and has an amount similar to the beta males.
So basically the perceived "height" of themself creates more dopmaine receptors. The brain literally seems to create the condition you believe to be true, in regards to value anyway. The more "reverent" you feel or know yourself to be, the more dopamine receptors will grow. So, it's not that your dopamine receptors repair to alpha male levels, it's closer to how much you believe in yourself and your receptors will reflect what you believe. Technically you could say it's all about that, you valued porn more than you and porn acted as the middle man to yourself. Your body creates dopmaine but your access to it changes, you created the deficiency. There is no other environmental stimulus but the fact that you are aware of you and you are saying "I am valuable" "I mean something" If you value yourself properly or hack away the limiting believes in the right way your brain reflects your perspective.
This is basically what zen is. You hack away the psychological middle men and go straight to the chemicals themselves. Ancient Taoists all talk about the alchemical nature of the body, they even talk about swallowing saliva because they don't want to spit away the precious fluid because it's filled with alchemical juices. Cortisol which is excreted from the adrenal glands, is often measured though saliva. They certainly seemed to know their shit but despite their deep intuitive nature about how the universe works, which is still relevant today if you actually understand it, they got fucked by their lack of materialistic scientific knowledge that we enjoy trivially today. There was a period of experimentation with mercury concoctions that lead to the movement to being quite embarrassed.
The researchers then tried to get all the baboons addicted to cocaine. The beta males dopmaine receptors dropped and the alpha male resisted for a while but eventually succumbed as well. It took longer but eventually he got taken down, down to the rest of the baboons. That's when they realized that all the baboons were equal. There was no social hierarchy with the baboons. This is why governmental bodies are so against drugs and addiction because intuitively they know it destroys social class. In saying that it can be as a means to control. I can talk much more in depth about the implications of how this shapes the world we live in. The most important thing to realize is that realizing what you are and learning to express what you are is most important thing you can do. What are you? you may ask, well I don't know what you are but your body sure as hell seems to respond when you're close to it. All this shows that there are three levels to societies addicts, betas, alphas.
A zen master could be described as both an alpha and an omega. He walks around quaint but could kill you in one punch. Well, if the Zen master was also a Kung Fu/Chi Kung Master. Chi Kung translates as energy work, or to be more accurate energy management, it's the art of managing the expressions of your body and mind. Learning to manage the economy of yourself. All value is self value, everything comes from within, all you really know is yourself, everything else is speculation.
Your descriptions of how you feel sound like you have a good insight into what you are, I never try to define this because defining it will limit what you are and could grow to be. So basically you are building a rapport with yourself, you can only know what you are by building rapport with yourself. Just like you can never know a woman unless you build rapport with her. Rapport is seeing the infrastructure to experience. We all know what alcohol is but only way to truly know what alcohol is, is to build rapport with it and experience the drunkness and it's implications for yourself.
The biggest thing that will fuck you up will be doubting what you have and doubting what happened if the experience you feel tends to go away. Doubting will make you see in a limited way. Your intuitive sense that forgiving your father in order to express yourself more truthfully seems spot on. Self expression is always positive, Self insight is always positive.
You seem to be respondent to the ideas that the body can over provide for you so I will tell you of a good book called "Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself". This is a book about the placebo effect and all the incidents and the nature of how it seems to work. The doctor who wrote it went through a crisis of life and had to change her ways and decided to look through all the place effect literature while she was at it.
They say seeing is believe in, so here is a documentary about the placebo effect that I think you will like, and I think will enforce your self belief Horizon: The Power Of the Placebo
Everything I know is because I've spent my entire life thinking about life and trying to understand it. Everything I know is from scraps of anything that would accommodate into my tree of knowledge, Everything I know I organize and stack and it all connects to each other in one way or another. It was my intention as a child to figure it all out to right a book and tell the world because I was sick of how fucked up it was. I didn't just want to understand it all, I wanted to be able to explain it so simply a child would understand. I wanted my information to be not only digestible but also delicious. I want to be a cook with knowledge, making it palatable and delicious unlike the brain breaking spiritual/fitness knowledge that's out there.
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I'm just after finding something very interesting. I just bought a book called "Detour from Normal" It's about a guy who went through the psychiatric merry go around because he was diagnosed with "Mania". This is very interesting because psychology already have a definition for what you are experiencing and it's caused by the very things that I talk about above. In fact they even describe it in the wikipedia page as:
>"The World Health Organization's classification system defines a manic episode as one where mood is higher than the person's situation warrants and may vary from relaxed high spirits to barely controllable exuberance, accompanied by hyperactivity, a compulsion to speak, a reduced sleep requirement, difficulty sustaining attention and, often, increased distractibility. Frequently, confidence and self-esteem are excessively enlarged, and grand, extravagant ideas are expressed. Behavior that is out of character and risky, foolish or inappropriate may result from a loss of normal social restraint."
One of the causes is actually "Dopamine D2 receptor overactivity". A manic episode sounds exactly like a alpha male baboon. It's almost laughable when you read the description above because that sounds amazing, yet they see it as a bad thing because you operate on a level that doesn't seem to reflect your situation in life would grant you. Again casting away the psychological middle man and going straight to the chemicals themselves, instead of hindering yourself because of your social situation.
I mentioned Chi Kung earlier because I talked about energy management (chemical management) and managing your own value. This is what I feel what would make "mania" as they like to call it a bad thing. You have to learn to manage yourself. It's like finding a million dollars and then blowing on cocaine and hookers and then being left with no money. You seemed to have traversed the mental maze and found the center of yourself. You have to learn how to manage yourself. Meditation is often what is prescribed. You have to allow your experience to settle like a ripples lake. You have the potential to follow your dreams but you have to be aware not to over spend or you could spiral out of control. Act in the most simplest and most direct route because the propensity of yourself alone is more than enough to do what you need, you have no need to over do anything. Flow like water, it's course is guaranteed.
You express value and people will see it in your body language, they will see it in how you speak, they will see it in how you talk. Learn to become comfortable with yourself and allow yourself to settle. Be sincere because accessing yourself trumps being untruthful. There is a good breathing technique I have found recently, I'm still studying it, I'll give you a link to a video which describes it better. I think it will help. It's about breathing 6 breaths a minute and how it syncs biological rhythms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xc3XdOiGGI
One of the best books on the subject is on Amazon:
Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art [Paperback]
A few of my friends' grandmothers use reiki on their children and grandchildren primarily, but also their pets. One of the best things about the practice is it doesn't require tools so you'll always be ready to administer it if the need arises. You can read the intro and first chapter which has a lot of background information on the practice. The practice has existed for quite awhile, but detailed records weren't written down until about one hundred years ago so there are some differences between the Japanese and the American systems.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895947366/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
Sorry I'm late to the party.
This book has been the single best resource on the different bodies and traditions I've ever seen. If you were to take a course on the questions you asked, this would be the textbook.
The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy
Autobiography of a Yogi
The Field,
The Intention Experiment, The Bond
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Internal-Martial-Arts-Chi/dp/1583941908/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5TR1N9HQBG5JNY4ADHWX
This is one of the best energy medicine reference tools out there.
https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Body-Encyclopedia-Energetic-Anatomy/dp/1591796717
Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan - Read this for a class while in Massage Therapy school. Really made me look at things in another light. Might be a little heavy to digest, but lots of wonderful information.
Although I don't neccessarily say you need to shop here, this ladies work rocked my world, and also gave me excellent visuals to show students.
https://ssl207.chi.us.securedata.net/barbarabrennan.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=1
https://ssl207.chi.us.securedata.net/barbarabrennan.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=3
Both of those are excellent reads for light workers / healers.
I can also recomend this one - http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Reiki-Complete-Ancient-Healing/dp/0895947366. I have a few other books that may help but those are the ones that most of my friends look at and say "can I borrow this?". I can't condone anything illegal, but you may try searching a few torrent sites with these ISBN's. You never know what people are sharing now days. But eventually you are going to want your own copies. Because, yeah, they're good. :)
None of those kata are unique to your style. Mark Bishop wrote an excellent book on Okinawan karate that you might find enlightening.
Hey I actually had really bad pain in my lower back for ages and then I started practicing Ni Kung which is basically the ancient Chinese art of standing the fuck still for 30 minutes and paying attention to how you hold your body. Or it is wu wu energy chi magic, you can believe that too for sure.
Either way I no longer have back pain and I'm learning how to release tension in my neck and shoulders and it's pretty rad. Check out this book if you want. I almost guarantee-ish that it will help.
http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460
A couple books to get you started:
Yoga of the Subtle Body - Tias Little
The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy - Cindy Dale
I read all the major medieval grimoires, and have read even Owen Davies academic book on the history of the occult.
https://www.amazon.com/Grimoires-History-Magic-Owen-Davies/dp/0199590044/
So tell me what I don't know.
https://www.amazon.ca/Healing-Light-Tao-Foundational-Practices/dp/1594771138
You can find free pdfs of it online too (Mantak is gonna kill me lol). Yeah you will be fascinated by those sensations for sure. What they can do to your body and mind is amazing aka visuals with no drugs, aka good health aka possibility to change your mental states on the spot aka many other esoteric stuff you will enjoy.
Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality
https://www.amazon.com/Taoist-Yoga-Kuan-Charles-Luk/dp/0877280673
Internal Elixir Cultivation: The Nature of Daoist Meditation
https://www.amazon.com/Internal-Elixir-Cultivation-Nature-Meditation/dp/1943155135/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478006245&sr=1-2&keywords=internal+elixir+cultivation
Healing Light of the Tao: Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594771138/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2P7K1FW99QSDG12HVPZA
Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984308253/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5KF0N4TFRQQQ4PCVCH6F
The Tao of Meditation: Way to Enlightenment
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804814651/ref=pd_sim_14_25?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5KF0N4TFRQQQ4PCVCH6F
I am a big book reader, specifically on energy healing and understanding how energy creates health or illness. I am a fully recovered bulimic -- and swear that these books changed my entire view and relationship with myself.
Here are my top 3 favorites, one is available for free as a digital book so I included that link.
xo tracey
Light Emerging - Barbara Brennan, free digital book http://t2mh.com/inspiring/Barbara%20Brennan%20Light%20Emerging%20-%20Journey%20of%20Personal%20Healing.pdf
Hands of Light - Barbara Brennan
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Light-Healing-Through-Energy/dp/0553345397
Caroline Myss - Anatomy of the Spirit: Seven Stages of Healing
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anatomy-Spirit-Seven-Stages-Healing/dp/0553505270/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FMJ18K9R9ZHN2Y8BFSWX
Read "Energy Work" by Robert Bruce, it's a system that uses "tactile imaging" instead of regular visualization, it's great for people who have trouble visualizing.
https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Work-Secrets-Spiritual-Development-ebook/dp/B005EXYB4O
I looked it up... Earthing sounds like total BS. "healing energies of the earth"? What are these energies and can they be measured?
Having been to Asia a few times for similar reasons, I can say that having backup plans and objectives might be good. If you can't find the guy, what else could you learn while you're over there?
The Shaolin monks accomplish feats nobody else on the planet are doing through two main factors: obsessive, ridiculous work ethic, and mastery of chi / internal energy. Standing chi gong postures build up unbelievable internal strength. If I were you, still 20 and motivated, I'd start working on "holding the ball" posture until you get up to around 45 minutes. You could try to find a Yiquan instructor in Hong Kong or XingYi instructor in Shannxi or Hubei province. They will make you stand holding one posture for hours at a time. All the best martial artists coming out of China, the legendary ones, practiced the living hell out of the standing chi gong postures to build a strong foundation before moving on to the martial techniques. If you find anyone who is the real deal over there, this is what they'll make you do. So, be prepared for that.
On the deeper level, chi gong has the ability to create "lighter body" which gives them the ability to jump super high, do incredible balances on their head or other parts of their body (like a few fingers), and so forth. This is probably what's happening with the guy who can do a two finger pushup. And this is why not everyone who's training can do it. Chi is a real energy in the body that can be cultivated for many different uses, but there is a mental component. It's why when confronted with a monk who was struggling with muscle tightness, his master asked him right away, "what are you thinking?" The mind and body are one connected unit.
Finally, there are many, many martial arts schools over there that offer immersive training, in places like Wu Dang mountain and elsewhere. A lot of them are basically tourist traps. I would spend as much time as you can looking into reviews of various places, because the most likely outcome of your trip isn't finding that wandering taoist who will take you under his wing and teach you mega secrets. Especially if you're hanging with your mom lol :) More likely is that you could find a place to enroll and go get your ass kicked for a period of months. But a lot of these places make you pay upfront, and once the money is paid, then the quality goes way down. Haggling and getting your money's worth is another kind of martial art that you'll learn when you visit China. There are forums like rumsoakedfist and thetaobums that discuss these places in detail. Basically, the amount of time you spend researching will reveal your real level of commitment. These arts are over there waiting for you, but they have some very annoying barriers to entry - racism, language barriers, obscurity, and straight up bitter, hard work. But if you really want it you can get it.
Also go read The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi by Bruce Frantzis. He spent 11 years over there training with some of the best masters who ever lived. He breaks down the main internal arts of China - tai chi, xingyi and bagua, discusses what you should look for in a master, the cultural revolution, and so forth.