Healing Love
Overview, Introduction, Essays
Most of principle concepts in this section apply to both women and men; the section is a worth while read for anyone. However, most of the techniques are oriented from the man's point of view.
And, though there is a great deal here about dual-cultivation, much of it can be easily adapted towards promoting harmony on a celibate path - if that's the way that you're traveling.
Levels of Intent, Difficulty, Accomplishment
If you are simply into longer (or only occasionally esoterically enhanced) love-making sessions, or retaining essence over the course of several sessions - no problem. Given that you're in good health to begin with, learning some of the basics of dual cultivation can give you what you're looking for, without much difficulty.
However, if you are on a serious spiritual path, and you've included long term (more than a month) semen retention as part of that path... This is a much more difficult task. Hugely more difficult than short term retention. It requires a genuine comprehensive approach to cultivation, attention to harmonious integration of the energy, and - often - some real digging for techniques that work for you (beyond what you'll learn in most basic books, including Mantak Chia's).
Healthy Perspective?
Actually, I think that long term semen retention is askew of a primary healthy goal - but is close enough to the truth to be attractive. Let me explain.
It's like this. First, you are convinced that saving sexual energy is a good thing - and with that belief you generate some dedication. Next, you learn how to engage in (one, or several rounds of) sex and yet abstain from ejaculation. So, you store more male sexual energy, and you grow in polarity as more is saved... Inevitably, a strong polarity will express, you'll ejaculate, perhaps against your beliefs and will. And you reap the pleasure of orgasm, the depletion of ejaculation, and the psychological trauma of uncontrollably doing something against your will. Then, you follow your spiritually involved beliefs, you work to improve: you save sexual energy... and the cycle repeats. This sort of cycle can be frustrating in the short term, and over the course of years can cause serious harm.
So, what's a better way?
A multi-part answer:
1. Focus on Balance and Harmony
Don't obsess on long term retention. Pay much more attention to balance and harmony. (That'll get you there faster, anyhow.) Really, all these lofty goals: semen retention indefinitely, enlightenment, immortality... On their own they can be counter-productive, but if you focus on balance and harmony you make progress towards them more quickly, with more stability, and with much less wear and tear.
Its not about how much you can save, its about how much you can harmoniously integrate. In other words, with semen retention specifically, aspire toward, and respect harmony. If you include balance in your practice and your body is at the point where long term retention is in balance, great. And if you are at a place where your body really wants to express through ejaculation at some point, do that. Then use the times between ejaculations to harmoniously integrate energy through the various practices (microcosmic, five elements, etc.) to the best of your ability. Semen retention past a certain point can be detrimental for someone, just as - on the other side - ejaculating too often can be detrimental. And the scale of things varies for each person. Just work on your practices, focus on harmony, and let things evolve.
Actually, learning to harmonize & stabilize during the intervals when you're not having sex is a much more productive goal. The unaroused practices provide the foundation for everything else.
But, how does one harmonize sexual energy?
Experience shows that the Microcosmic Orbit doesn't cut it, neither does Fusion of the Five Elements. (Not that those practices aren't important, they are. And not that they don't help some, they do, as I've noted below. They're very important in their own right. But they fall far short of a sufficient answer, in this regard.) 'Fire and Water' and 'Exchange' techniques are central to maintaining balance.
2. Fire and Water
Sexual energy is part of the "water" element, in Taoism. If you save it, you'll need to balance it with an opposite alchemical agent - otherwise it'll create an increasingly difficult situation. (Build up enough of a polar imbalance, and you will have trouble.) The primary complementary energy that can be found in your own body is "fire", heart energy. (There are other energetic complements, also mentioned in the essays below.) An effective technique for mixing water and fire is crucial if you intend to save sexual energy.
Unfortunately, the Healing Tao system doesn't teach an effective water and fire technique until "Lesser Kan & Li". It's not taught live at Workshops, only at Retreats. There are no books on it, though it is available on cassette. Also, there are quite a number of prerequisites for learning the HT's Kan and Li practices - as well as some cautions for keeping it as a later practice (see the Kan & Li section, on this website). As a result, many people take up the strategy of saving sexual energy on a dedicated basis - but without the requisite tools for harmonizing that energy, resulting in considerable anguish.
Quite a dilemma. Several of the essays below address this issue and provide appropriate solution techniques. "S.Biel's Fire and Water technique" is preferred; it's safe and profound. The Kan & Li section of this website goes into this topic.
Balancing heart and generative energy is part of the larger process of vertical integration.
3. Exchange
"It is exchanging your ching [sexual energy] with your lover that transforms it, and in the process gives you an experience of sex which is deeply shared as love." - Taoist Secrets of Love, Cultivating Male Sexual Energy, pg. 144
The exchange of sexual energy is the most obvious technique for healthy dual cultivation, yet it's commonly one of the most overlooked and underdeveloped.
Over-emphasis on the topic of 'conservation' often leaves 'exchange' by the wayside, a reversal of the healthy learning sequence: Once you learn to balance and harmonize, conservation is joyful. Conserve without balance, and you'll only hurt yourself."Man needs the soft receptive energies a woman provides to achieve perfect balance. Similarly, woman needs the expanding male energies to attain her own higher harmony." - Healing Love through the Tao, Cultivating Female Sexual Energy, pg. 261
To get technical: Aroused female sexual energy and aroused male sexual energy are primary alchemical complements. They are the primary "medicines" for each other: they're strongly attracted and, when they mix, something wonderful happens. The silly thing is that, in the study of all this esoteric sexual stuff, people often lose track of that (go figure).
So, there are ways to exchange that promote balance and facilitate conservation of substance.
4. Comprehensive Approach
The Healing Tao system advises a comprehensive approach - yet sometimes people don't recognize it. Sometimes a person just picks up one of the books on sexuality, and neglects the surrounding practices. But the surrounding practices are what allow you to integrate the energy that you are saving. (This is sort of a stock message, I know, but it's true and is worth saying.) These practices include, but are not limited to:
Healing Tao practices
Six Healing Sounds
Five Element practices
Kan and Li.
Other
A beginning level, and yet effective, fire and water technique
Vigorous physical exercise
Virtuous work
A healthy social life.
Ironically, much of your success in a long term healing love venture depends on focusing on other practices.
Dangers and Warnings
Main "dangers essay". Stagnation: Physical, Psychological, Spiritual.
SeanDenty's post at TheTaoBums re: stagnant blood
Scroll down to the paragraph that has the word "sharing" highlighted, read from there. TraditionalTao.com is the relevant school.
VCraigP cautions re: the book, "Multi-Orgasmic Man"
Former Healing Tao instructor.
Semen retention easily fosters sexual addiction, re-orienting practices towards a healthy normal sexual cycle.
World's most convenient internet filter: OpenDNS.com.
The best insurance against the worst dangers, that's effective for not only the average joe but also for many at a remedial level.
Manual locking techniques are not recommended! Michael Winn notes that the "million dollar point" is now known to be dangerous, is no longer taught nor recommended, and explains why.
Essays
These essays assume knowledge of the basic healing love techniques and concepts, found in the HT books. There's always more... The essays go on to techniques and ideas that are not taught in the Healing Tao system, as well as dissect and critique HT techniques.
Healing Love Assumed Basics, plus
There's a lot of "plus" in this essay; don't skip it.
Self Massage as Pertinent to Jing Gong
Since jing is the most dense and concentrated strata of the body, a main risk of jing gong is stagnation. Acupressure self massage is one of the important remedial, as well as preventative, tools for resolving stagnation at a bridging level of from physical to energetic. Open the channels, keep them open.
KeithF's HT-USA post: Proper orientation, progressive steps, guiding concepts
Responding to a new student who has aspirations of semen retention.
The Lin Institute: Research Center for Multiple Sexual Orgasms the website of Newman K. Lin, Ph.D., PE.
Dr. Lin's methods for semen retention are generally considered (by the participants at the HT-USA Discussion site) to be clearly superior to Mantak Chia's methods. (Though various other aspects of cultivation are not part of Dr. Lin's system.) Additionally, Dr. Lin's methods result in a love-making style that is far more satisfying for the majority of women.
Much of his material can be read right on his website (above), for free. However, there's quite a lot of material, and the presentation of his material is more clearly organized on his CD, which is highly recommended and can be purchased from the order form at his site.
Introductory links to his theory, methods.
S.Biel's HT-USA post #11025: On Dr. Lin's method
Working with the brute force aspect of jing.
Pulsing is yin & yang concisely packaged, and is a principle characteristic of activated jing.
S.Biel's Fire and Water technique
This is the gentlest, and most effective, method that I've come across for mixing and stabilizing the heart and sexual energies. It's a crucial missing link in the Healing Love practices as they're currently taught.
Some love-making positions naturally bring sexual energy to upper centers.
Exchanging Sexual Energy: Overview of the Major Ways
Spontaneous exchange, and technique: the lower gate, upper gate, and field level.
SimonV's HT-USA post: A very direct method of sexual energy exchange.
Drawing energy in through the penis to ren-1 huiyin and to the sacrum.
Balancing Male Sexual Energy in the Lower Tan Tien
This essay surveys fundamental principles of classic alchemical Taoism (important reading for both genders), then applies the insights to sexual practices, and provides techniques. It's a long essay so I've provided the bookmark-links, below, so that you're able to go directly to any part that interests you:
Elixir Theory - important reading for either gender.
Techniques - mostly for men
Five Character Teaching - from Douglas Wile's book, "Art of the Bedchamber..."
End Notes, Bibliography, Resources on the Web
Center-based Shen-Theory: Thread #26252
A posted thread at HT-USA discussion site, regarding nurturing a sense of "me-ness", "I-consciousness", in the lower centers. This assists alchemy immensely, and is a foundation-remedy / preventative-against the various kinds of disconnect that can occur between the "upper consciousness" and the libido.
See the Additional Reading section for some other helpful books.