Forward and Reverse
jing gong, semen retention,
in relation to effects on
attention, harmony, and meditative absorption
This page contains several posts from The Tao Bums discussion site, on the topic of "forward and reverse" - at the level of attention, in relation to meditative absorption. .. as one way of looking as to whether a practice is promoting harmony or not.
The following two posts (#1 & #13) are from the thread entitled "constantly sexually rev'd, vs. turning the light around" in Sept, 2005.
I wanted to bring up the topic of "constantly sexually rev'd" as a result of retention of aroused jing.
Specifically in contrast of
turning the light around.. or (to put it briefly), bringing attention
deeply and steadily inward in a way that results in (or at least moves towards)
non-dual consciousness.
Seems to me that "constantly sexually rev'd" is basically the opposite of the process of "turning the light around", and so can be a formidable trouble area.
Observations, ideas, solutions?
Matt and Yoda,
My original post was really prompted by reading everyone's comments in thelerner's personal practice thread (end of Aug posts), in which several people mentioned that retaining aroused jing made them horny all the time, "constantly sexually rev'd".
I agree that that's fun sometimes (but not all the time), and I agree that jing is a fuel (that can be used well, and/or that people get burned).
My point is that, by constantly sexually rev'ed there's this:
1. The attention, psyche and body is driven outward.
2. Its an intense dualistic experience. That is, there is "me" wanting
"that", out there.
3. 1&2 are constant, and powerful. ie, "constantly sexually rev'ed".
Now, you may circulate jing, save it, refine it to some moderate degree, but I'd still say that the above is
FORWARD (by the qualities that I've put in bold).. (unless you refine deeply enough, then it becomes "reverse").
REVERSE is driven by a process of:
Gathering energy and attention deeply inward, steadily, in a way that resolves into
non-duality. If you just contrast the bold words just here, and up there: forward and reverse.
Reverse is the process that, over the long term, gives the whole process real power and stability.
Its what brings you from the 10,000 things to The One Place. To me, that's a really important .. well, its the point of cultivation. (And I want to do it in a way that is good for my health, life, and sexuality.)
Maybe you guys aren't interested in that, I don't know.
"Reverse", in this sense, interupts the cycle of outward desire. Its not that its not pleasurable.
There is some pleasure in the process, but there isn't outward grasping of attention.
I'm not saying that forward is "bad", that you have to give it up entirely (not that any of us are capable of that), nor any of that extreme stuff.
Only that being constantly sexually rev'd would seem to make it harder to turn inward easily, and so sabotages the whole point (or at least a very large point) of cultivation.
Do you guys find it to be a difficulty in that way? Do you find yourself overly distracted from being horny all the time?
Or are you able to re-direct that force inwardly, still, when you want to, fluently and effectively?
It seems to me that if one's ability to turn inward is not sufficiently developed, then you don't have enough power to turn around the powerful fuel that you're saving - so that it ends up creating more trouble (from a buddhist stand-point).
But if you're deep-center (and all the physical and subtle layers leading in to that) is developed powerfully enough then that fuel gets drawn deeply inward, and used to further empower cultivation.
So, saving jing is both a powerful danger and a powerful opportunity.
And, of course, there are the more physical layers of: can you keep your tissues supple, your fluids well blended, and your channels open and free of clogs.
Which is all a lot of work in itself.
Trunk
The following is an excerpt from post #68, in the subject-thread of "Desire, Sex, Tantra" in June, 2006.
..
I think there's still a lack of understanding of forward and reverse - in general, and in relation to light.
(imo ->) In
forward you got your vital winds flowing 'round & 'bout you, and you got your thoughts ridin' on them and as you experience you try and do "warding off stuff" with your winds & thoughts to try and stop the experience, or make it different.
When good stuff happens, we do
"yummm, gobble-onto" stuff with our thoughts, winds, subtle bodies - in relation to that yummy stuff.
And we express ourselves. In
reverse, the vital winds gather and concentrate in the central channel (that still center empty throughway), particularly in the deep-center.
The bindu becomes illuminated and unifies with The Big Light. Upon that power, all the vital winds (and whatever else is laying around) are spontaneously drawn into the center and refined.
The Big Light suffuses the centers: Radiance.
imo, fluency in the above is a lot about what our practices are leading to.