[april]

Life Force Books authors featured in Barnes and Noble Panel Discussion
Life Force Books authors JJ Semple (The Backward-Flowing Method: The Secret of Life and Death) and Neil Bethell Sinclair (The Spirit Flies Free: The Kundalini Poems) join noted author Matthew Fox (The Hidden Spirituality of Men) for a panel discussion entitled 3 Ways to Wisdom taking place at 12:00pm on March 7, 2009 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Jack London Square, Oakland CA. The participants will discuss ecstatic states of creativity, the future of human nature in a Kundalini world, and various ways of developing and enhancing masculine spirituality.

Each writer will make a 15-minute presentation, to be followed by a vigorous panel discussion with questions from the audience. JJ welcomes the opportunity to meet readers face-to-face. He tells me his presentation will address the "universality of man's spiritual achievements" including ways of stimulating neuroplastic activity, which he hopes will inspire interest in topics discussed across this forum. Hope TaoBums living in the Bay Area (SanFrancisco-Oakland-Marin) will take time out to participate.

April

[Wu-Liu]

april, on Feb 11 2009, 12:39 PM, said:

Life Force Books authors featured in Barnes and Noble Panel Discussion
Life Force Books authors JJ Semple (The Backward-Flowing Method: The Secret of Life and Death) and Neil Bethell Sinclair (The Spirit Flies Free: The Kundalini Poems) join noted author Matthew Fox (The Hidden Spirituality of Men) for a panel discussion entitled 3 Ways to Wisdom taking place at 12:00pm on March 7, 2009 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Jack London Square, Oakland CA. The participants will discuss ecstatic states of creativity, the future of human nature in a Kundalini world, and various ways of developing and enhancing masculine spirituality.

Each writer will make a 15-minute presentation, to be followed by a vigorous panel discussion with questions from the audience. JJ welcomes the opportunity to meet readers face-to-face. He tells me his presentation will address the "universality of man's spiritual achievements" including ways of stimulating neuroplastic activity, which he hopes will inspire interest in topics discussed across this forum. Hope TaoBums living in the Bay Area (SanFrancisco-Oakland-Marin) will take time out to participate.

April

Thanks for letting us know April. If I lived on the West Coast I'd be there.

[Wu-Liu]

Alright, I think I've distilled my practice down into something that I can actually attain. Tell me what you guys think.

-I will continuosly practice stretches, good diet, virtue/understanding cultivation (which includes reading the texts), stillness/emptiness meditation.
-Should I continuously practice lower dantian breathing as well? No matter what stage I'm at?
-I will sometimes fast, take retreats, do mantras.
-I will only once do the Secret of the Golden Flower. (Years from now that is.)

Sound like a good practice? I think it is...
So far I've only done alot of reading, less meditation, and even less Spring Forest Qigong. I think that I'd be happier doing it this way though. See any problems? Got any tips?

[april]

Wu-Liu, on Feb 18 2009, 02:56 PM, said:

Alright, I think I've distilled my practice down into something that I can actually attain. Tell me what you guys think.

-I will continuosly practice stretches, good diet, virtue/understanding cultivation (which includes reading the texts), stillness/emptiness meditation.
-Should I continuously practice lower dantian breathing as well? No matter what stage I'm at?
-I will sometimes fast, take retreats, do mantras.
-I will only once do the Secret of the Golden Flower. (Years from now that is.)

Sound like a good practice? I think it is...
So far I've only done alot of reading, less meditation, and even less Spring Forest Qigong. I think that I'd be happier doing it this way though. See any problems? Got any tips?

April here. JJ sends his blessing:

Looks like a well-thought out plan, Wu-Liu. Building up slowly, usually ensures good results, especially since you will probably have to adjust as new discoveries arise during the interim.

JJ Semple

Don't miss JJ's interview today <http://www.seeingbeyond.com/index.php?page=schedule>.

April

This post has been edited by april: 23 February 2009 - 09:21 AM

[Wu-Liu]

This is a message from JJ Semple regarding my question for him:

Quote

Quote

Hi April,

I have one more question that I'd like for you to relay to Mr. Semple:

Mr. Semple,

On page 87 of "Deciphering the Golden Flower," you tell Genvieve that you do not feel love, anger, pride or desire. Is it true that you do not feel love after this practice? I've been with the same woman for going on four years now, and I love her very much. Despite cessation of attachment being the only way to end suffering, I do not want to lose my capacity to love either her or my parents or anyone for that matter. Does this truly happen after GFM?

Sincerely,

Myles


I appreciate your help as always, April. Thanks.

Myles,

Yes, there is definitely an emotional readjustment. Read Gopi Krishna's Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man, pp. 52-53. He has an interesting account of the same phenomenon.

This emotional readjustment is disconcerting at the beginning. As you progress, however, you will understand that your human nature is changing and it is, in fact, a much-needed positive step. Over time, there will be a change in your being's emotional structure. And that's as it should be. After all, it's emotion that governs our behavior and dictates our human nature, which, as you look at the world around you, you realize is responsible for most of our problems.

Generally, as a race, we let our emotions run wild, and are powerless to change them. Emotion is at the root of most of our problems. They are the anchor of our human nature, but since we are unable to control them, our emotions cause problems. The only way to change our human nature is to change our state of being, and Kundalini is the key to this. Kundalini overhauls our being, and as a consequence, changes our nature, gradually purifying our affective makeup.

After Kundalini, we move away from the beings we once were and it seems as if we have lost feelings we once treasured. However, eventually we come to realize that this is only a step to a new being. Love does not disappear; it changes in nature. To evolve, we must control our emotions. This is very hard. Read Ouspensky's The Fourth Way. It's a great book on the subject of changing the being.

His method works on self-control, uses self-remembering to master emotion. It's a very long process. Kundalini does this by changing the somatic and metabolic structure of the individual. And although the physical changes are accomplished swiftly, the affective changes take time. You must get used to the idea that this work will change your being. Think of this as a positive step, a much-needed readjustment.

In fact, picture yourself as a superior being for a moment, incapable of emotion. Try to imagine how this will change the ways you look at others. You will be so much more understanding. You will be outside the "game of life" to a degree, objectively able to see where people are "coming from." From this understanding will come a new kind of love

Spirit entities have no emotions; emotions come with our inhabiting bodies. Look at the reckless emotion around you, the problems it causes. As you progress in your practice, you will begin to separate from the magnetic control your body and its perceived needs have over you. You will begin to realize that you are responsible for your emotions, just like you are responsible for a baby. You can't let the baby wander out into traffic; you can't let your emotions run wild.

In a nutshell, you will begin to feel love in a different way; love without attachment, love in a less possessive sense. Don't be afraid to go there.

JJ

[AugustLeo]

.

[AugustLeo]

.

[Jesse]

AugustLeo, on Mar 12 2009, 02:39 PM, said:

What I'm trying to get at is a step by step process for the "backward flowing method".

JJ Semple describes it like this:
It's not clear to me what he means - it's rather ambiguous.

For instance, does he mean that originally he senses his breath moving down his back (down the governor channel) on the inhale and up the front of his body (up the functional channel) on the exhale; and then 'commands' it to 'reverse', breathing down the front on the inhale and up the back on the exhale.

As I said, I'm trying to break it down into a clearer step by step process.

Any help would in deciphering JJ's book would be appreciated.

You might want to check out his podcast. He has one called backward flowing method. I listened to it last night on my drive home and i think he described it in a 3 step process ( i can't remember exactly) that sounded a little different then what you are describing.

Jesse

[AugustLeo]

.

[april]

AugustLeo, on Mar 12 2009, 08:38 AM, said:

Anyone have a detailed description of how to perform the backward flow meditation. By detailed I mean more detailed than what JJ Semple provides in his books.

Thanks

Hi, AugustLeo, got your email. It's the best way to get our attention because sometimes we're too busy to check the Tao Bums site. Thanks for the question. Here's JJ's reply:

Michael, I will try to answer your question, quoted here below. It may take several iterations, however...

Quote

For instance, does it mean that originally one senses his breath moving down
his back (down the governor channel) on the inhale and up the front of his
body (up the functional channel) on the exhale; and then 'commands' it to
'reverse', breathing down the front on the inhale and up the back on the
exhale.

Let's begin with the following citation from my website www.goldenflowermeditation.com: "...it usually happens about 100 days into the meditation practice, but before it happens, they [practitioners] must master each step, each technique in turn. In other words, there are a certain number of dependencies. How can an individual expect to be able to detect the property of direction in the flow of air in the lower belly if he hasn’t slowed down his breath to the point of absolute stillness? If you do not hear your breath, you become that much more able to 'feel' it, to become one with it. Once you become one with it, you can [detect and] direct it.

"[So, first] you must master deep breathing to the point where inhalation and exhalation become totally still. How long will it take to master deep breathing to the point where you observe the aforementioned 'property of movement'? Whether it takes 100 days or 365 days, if you want to succeed, you’ll have to continue until you can breathe without hearing your breath. Silent on inhalation; silent on exhalation."

When I wrote the above, I was trying to set the stage by explicitly reminding practitioners that there are A SERIES OF DEPENDENCIES. So if you have not gotten to the point where, when meditating in a quiet room, you cannot hear your breath, you will be unable to detect what I call "the property of movement." Therefore, at this point, answering your question is academic. To answer your question, we need to be on the same page. Please provide a detailed description of exactly where you are in this process. If you tell me you haven't begun the process, i.e., mastered the first two steps:

• diaphragmatic deep breathing
  
• control of heart rate

...then there is little I can do to clarify the BFM. You must be able to understand what I tell you and correlate it with what is happening inside your own body. It would be the same if you were a student, working at this in my presence. There are perquisites and each practitioner must master them before going on to the next step.

Since you are asking for a personal consultation, I need to know more about your state and what you are trying to achieve. Once I have that, we can proceed from there.

[AugustLeo]

.

[april]

april, on Mar 12 2009, 03:28 PM, said:

Hi, AugustLeo, got your email. It's the best way to get our attention because sometimes we're too busy to check the Tao Bums site. Thanks for the question. Here's JJ's reply:

Michael, I will try to answer your question, quoted here below. It may take several iterations, however...
Let's begin with the following citation from my website www.goldenflowermeditation.com: "...it usually happens about 100 days into the meditation practice, but before it happens, they [practitioners] must master each step, each technique in turn. In other words, there are a certain number of dependencies. How can an individual expect to be able to detect the property of direction in the flow of air in the lower belly if he hasn’t slowed down his breath to the point of absolute stillness? If you do not hear your breath, you become that much more able to 'feel' it, to become one with it. Once you become one with it, you can [detect and] direct it.

"[So, first] you must master deep breathing to the point where inhalation and exhalation become totally still. How long will it take to master deep breathing to the point where you observe the aforementioned 'property of movement'? Whether it takes 100 days or 365 days, if you want to succeed, you’ll have to continue until you can breathe without hearing your breath. Silent on inhalation; silent on exhalation."

When I wrote the above, I was trying to set the stage by explicitly reminding practitioners that there are A SERIES OF DEPENDENCIES. So if you have not gotten to the point where, when meditating in a quiet room, you cannot hear your breath, you will be unable to detect what I call "the property of movement." Therefore, at this point, answering your question is academic. To answer your question, we need to be on the same page. Please provide a detailed description of exactly where you are in this process. If you tell me you haven't begun the process, i.e., mastered the first two steps:

• diaphragmatic deep breathing
  
• control of heart rate

...then there is little I can do to clarify the BFM. You must be able to understand what I tell you and correlate it with what is happening inside your own body. It would be the same if you were a student, working at this in my presence. There are perquisites and each practitioner must master them before going on to the next step.

Since you are asking for a personal consultation, I need to know more about your state and what you are trying to achieve. Once I have that, we can proceed from there.

Could you answer a couple of questions?

• Assuming we are able describe the backward-flowing method to our mutual satisfaction, what use do you intend to make of this process?
  
• Where are you with Kundalini? Have you activated it?

[AugustLeo]

.

[dizzydazzle]

AugustLeo, on Mar 12 2009, 08:20 PM, said:

I bought your products (books & CD) trusting that you would provide a descriptive deciphering of The Secret of the Golden Flower, beyond what was available in the available translations. That's what I paid for and that's all I want.

With regard to your second question - why do you want to know this? From my perspective it's irrelevant.

Agree with you 100% brother!

This post has been edited by dizzydazzle: 12 March 2009 - 09:45 PM

[AugustLeo]

.

[april]

AugustLeo, on Mar 12 2009, 09:20 PM, said:

JJ,

Thanks for responding.

I have no ulterior motives.

With regard to your first question, I'm assuming that you are able to describe your backward-flowing method. I bought your products (books & CD) trusting that you would provide a descriptive deciphering of The Secret of the Golden Flower, beyond what was available in the available translations. That's what I paid for and that's all I want. I hope my trust wasn't misplaced.

With regard to your second question - why do you want to know this? From my perspective it's irrelevant.

Best wishes.

Michael

First, let's look at the substance of this discussion. We are not discussing the process itself, only my description, right? The process is real; I used it to activate my Kundalini. Others before me used it — otherwise The Secret of the Golden Flower would never have been written. That I came along 800 years after the book was written, worked my way through the method with no one to help me interpret it, bears witness to the fact that it can be done and the process is real. What we are discussing then is my description of the process. That you are not satisfied with my description is understandable. Perhaps, I’m incapable of anything better. Perhaps, I’m not up to it. I don’t know. Metaphysics is a frustrating subject. I know what happened to me; I’m not sure I can express it to everyone’s satisfaction. However, I do try — in spite of the fact that words are not always mutually understood. Hardly a reason to accuse me of violating your “trust.”

Second, no matter what you think, I am constantly revising my description, trying to make it clearer with every word I write, every appearance I make. Why? When dealing with a metaphysical process, inaccessible to most, it is difficult to come up with a description that satisfies everyone. I look at it as a series of approximations, a struggle to put a complex process into words that are understood generally. But hey, not everyone who reads the instructions for a DVR player is able to set one up. Not every documentation is clearly written. Not everyone is technically-minded.

Number one, I shy away from technical terms (governor channel and functional channel, for instance) for the simple reason that most people are not familiar with these or other technical terms. Instead, I use simple every day language, which compounds the difficulty, but at least puts readers on the same wavelength. Number two, I am always open to the contributions of others, who, if they can improve my description, will immediately be cited on my website for their contributions.

I asked you about the reasons for your interest because I want to know if you are working with this process or some other. Believe me, I get plenty of questions on Kundalini and plenty of questions on the processes individuals are using — some of them life and death. Some of these I know nothing about, yet individuals expect me to understand their situation and answer their questions. Some get quite upset when I am unable to, even though their questions have nothing to do with me or my writings. In the final analysis, I can only repeat what happened to me in the words available to me at the moment I write them down. I do this with humility, realizing that not everyone will understand. Does this mean people should not “trust” me? Again, I don’t know; I can’t be inside each individual’s mind. I can’t vouch for another’s level of understanding or emotional state.

So if you’re inquiring out of curiosity — and that’s what your answer seems to imply — I don’t understand why you imply that I’ve violated your trust, especially when measured against the life and death inquiries I receive everyday, especially since I told you, right from the beginning, that I was willing to explore other ways of describing this process if you would only answer a few questions. Again, I am willing to try to satisfy your curiosity, but only if you are willing to lower the tone of this discussion. As an engineer I rather imagined that you’d undertake this kind of discussion in a climate of emotional calm, recognizing that accurate description of metaphysical truth is elusive and takes time to uncover.

I'm not ascribing you any "ulterior motives." I want to know about your Kundalini — if you’ve activated it, if you’re working on activating it, if you intend to. I like to understand who and what I'm dealing with. If you want me to go beyond what I have written in my books, then I'd like you to be open with me. What's irrelevant to you may be relevant to this discussion and relevant to me. And if you want me to provide information, I would ask you to provide same.

What are the stakes here? Simple curiosity? That I’m unable to describe a process to your satisfaction? I’ve already stated that there may be no optimal description, not one that satisfies everyone. And you know what? Suppose we do come up with a description that satisfies you. Before long, someone will object to this description. Violently, irrationally. How do I know? It’s part of the territory. I’ve been there before. Aesop wrote about it 2000 years ago.

From what I have read of you, you seem to understand a lot about this process already. I respect your interest. Now you want to go further. That's fine with me and I am willing to participate, especially if we can come up with a better way to describe the process. However, I want to proceed in a less confrontational manner, without implications that your "trust" has somehow been violated. If we cannot do this collaboratively, then I will have to move on, in spite of the lumps I may take in this forum. It is simply not productive.

[AugustLeo]

.

[cheya]

april, on Mar 13 2009, 01:52 PM, said:

If we cannot do this collaboratively, then I will have to move on, in spite of the lumps I may take in this forum. It is simply not productive.

JJ Semple,
Thank you very much for your replies to Michael, which I have found very clear and extremely helpful in understanding the challenges involved in transmitting practices.
Osho Rajneesh once said that if he were marooned on an island, and could only have one book, it would be Secret of the Golden Flower. The times I've picked it up, it felt like Greek to me, but, from your responses to Michael, I think I will be able to get a lot from reading your experience with the practice/process.

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into communicating with us.
All the best,
Adeha

[april]

cheya, on Mar 13 2009, 06:02 PM, said:

JJ Semple,
Thank you very much for your replies to Michael, which I have found very clear and extremely helpful in understanding the challenges involved in transmitting practices.
Osho Rajneesh once said that if he were marooned on an island, and could only have one book, it would be Secret of the Golden Flower. The times I've picked it up, it felt like Greek to me, but, from your responses to Michael, I think I will be able to get a lot from reading your experience with the practice/process.

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into communicating with us.
All the best,
Adeha

Adeha,

You raise a central issue, that of transmitting practices. The keyword being practices. Practices, not knowledge.

Practices usually have specific goals — the practitioner wants to accomplish something; knowledge is something one wants to know, but not necessarily use. Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time is a story of redemption and transcendence. Buried away, but nonetheless central to the narrative, is a transmission of practices. In this book, as cited on the dedication page, I tried to show that "Self-realization begins at birth; it is the journey as much as it is the destination."

The Backward-Flowing Method: The Secret of Life and Death focuses on transmission of practices. However, to show how my description of the process has evolved since I locked down the text, I enclose an excerpt from my presentation to the 2008 Alchemist Convention.

"Some readers ask me what’s so special about Golden Flower Meditation. They say any number of serious meditation methods include some sort of sublimation process. And they’re right; some do. The difference is that the backward-flowing method works by drawing the seminal fluid up the spinal column, not by thinking or visualizing it. This is a very subtle technique whose implementation begins only at the moment when a practitioner perceives that his breath has the property of direction. You may remember that I spoke about regularity and receiving signals from the body. Detecting the property of direction is a perfect example of this type of signal. Picture a mountain stream, a leaf caught in an eddy, circling round and round. Detecting the property of movement is a little like watching the leaf caught in the tide pool. Only it’s happening inside your belly. Picture a feather in your belly. All of a sudden it’s there, fluttering in the lower belly. Is it a sensation or part of the breathing process? You realize it’s moving up the front and down the back in this very tight circle. But that’s not completely understandable, is it? This notion of a tight little circle in the lower belly. I’d prefer to use the terms forward and backward, but forward or backward in relation to what? The sensation of a feather rotating in a circle in the lower belly. If I was an artist, I could draw it using a side cutaway view. From a side view I could illustrate the notions of “property of direction” and "change of direction." But I can’t draw. Too bad, because that’s when you command it to change directions. Down the front and up the back. Down the front and up the back. So you know what? At a certain point, you just have to get there on your own. That’s right, no one can do it for you. In my next book on Kundalini, I’ll find an artist to illustrate what I’m talking about. Will it solve the problem of describing the process once and for all? I wouldn't bet on it."

It's not a question of knowledge or of being a great technical writer; it's a question of practice. And practice is elusive; it can only be verified, as James Joyce stated, "...in the smithy of [your] soul." And after living with Kundalini for 40 years, I'm beginning to think that this state may not accessible to every individual. Some people, it seems, just can't activate it no matter what they do or how hard they try. I don't see this as elitist, only as a function of individual readiness. How else do you explain Neil Bethell Sinclair, the poet who wrote The Spirit Flies Free: The Kundalini Poems. Neil was an freshman at Berkeley when all of a sudden he was struck by a "spontaneous and complete arousal of my Kundalini." Neil had never written poetry; he was an engineering student. All of sudden, he was transformed into a creative artist, channeling poetry, and dropping out of school to understand and assimilate what had happened to him. He didn't ask for the experience; it just happened. It changed his life; it changed my life; it changed Gopi Krishna's. Most people don't need their lives changes so dramatically and that may be why Karma intervenes, not in a discriminatory fashion, but as a polite tap on the shoulder, as if to say, "It's not your time yet; you're not ready. You have something else to accomplish in this present life." Is it that simple? I don't know. I don't want to discourage anyone, but this work has to be approached very humbly. Everyday, even after 40 years, I ask myself: "Why me? Now, if you really want an example of perseverance, read The Life of Milarepa. Talk about trials and tribulations of practice!

Oh, and by the way, I second Rajneesh's selection. I, too, would bring The Secret of the Golden Flower with me. Just when I think I've verified every element and technique in the book through personal practice, I discover something new. Humbling, n'est-ce pas? And that's as it should be. Serious metaphysical investigation and practice is all about wonder, about the invisible layers we cannot see, the unseen world that surrounds us, and our desire to explore it. To succeed, we must roll up our sleeves...

[vortex]

april, on Mar 15 2009, 12:19 PM, said:

The difference is that the backward-flowing method works by drawing the seminal fluid up the spinal column, not by thinking or visualizing it.

On p115 (of TBFM), you state that you traded your "ability to copulate at will" to channel that sexual energy into your brain. And that once you start the sublimation process, you don't want to interrupt it (by ejaculating) too much.

On p54, you state that the sublimation thus has a debilitating effect, at least during the first phase.

And on p132, you quote Gopi Krishna referring to "statements of the kind that during the process the semen dries up with suction and becomes thin, that the male organ shrinks, or that the sexual appetite is lost."


Now, I believe Glenn Morris also alluded to some sexual problems (or changes) from his kundalini awakening that contributed to his divorce. Also, didn't Buddha's dick withdraw into a flap of skin after he became enlightened or something?


So, my questions here then are:
1) Does your dick shrink or lose erectile function during the kundalini-awakening process - presumably as a result of the life force being used for your own rejuvenation (rather than shot out your dick for that of a potential baby's)?
2) If so, would your dick return to normal size and function after your kundalini has been awakened?
3) Do you have to conserve your jing even after your kundalini has been awakened? And if not, what happens? Does your brain get foggy and your rejuvenation slow?
4) Might kundalini-awakening actually make (non-ejac) sex easier by clearing the way for the "Big Draw?"

Cuz reality is for us single fellas out there, women are still going to be a lot more impressed with a sizeable, functioning unit than a spiritually-awakened man. And ideally, I'd like to have both.

This post has been edited by vortex: 15 March 2009 - 10:12 AM