Coaster

Do you mean this? From the description, the post is now harder to find than the original Shaolin martial arts manuscripts: Taomeow wrote in "What is Qi?": I don't see a taomeow personal forum, so I would guess that the post was moved there and then she decided to remove the forum....

Note: I'm not looking for a scientific explanation of Qi, an explanation that is verified by the science establishment. I'm looking for an explanation of how Qi cultivation works. Again - no one seems to understand why waving your arms one way works, while waving it another way does not. I only mentioned that Dr. Yang is a scientist, because then he would be the sort of person who would be looking for some sort of explanation, rather than saying "just shut up and do it, it works". And in fact, his list of questions shows that he was looking for an explanation, but did not find one.

Existence and Awareness and Bliss are three words for (or "aspects of") the same thing. This is the meaning of "Satchitananda". Someone can write 200 pages about how many Dzogchen masters can dance on the end of a pin, but that is mainly because publishers live in a culture where a book is 200 pages. Bliss is. And it is aware. And there is no other awareness. BTW, this is not to say that anything said above in the thread is false, on the contrary, very fine stuff. But at the end of a one hour sermon, everyone has forgotten what was said in the first 55 minutes.

Before I focused on the video player, my thought was "If this is longer than.... about 10 minutes... it's a fail."

According to what I have read (so just repeating it), Castaneda had a journal entry about going to a peyote ceremony and participating. Someone researched Castaneda's UCLA Library stacks usage and found that at the exact date and time mentioned in his journal entry, he was in the UCLA Library reading a book on a peyote ceremony. --- Here is a similar one, except this is more direct. A close friend of mine worked at one of the first big mail order spiritual bookstores. She filled orders from Rajneesh's ashram for many spiritual books. Some months/years later, the bookstore receives a review copy of a new Rajneesh book, so she reads it... and finds some things familar... and having a whole bookstore at her fingertips, is able to find most of the paragraphs in the book have been lifted from exactly the same books she mailed to Rajneesh months before. Of course, there are dozens of other Rajneesh incidents... it is sad that this whole nonsense is being perpetuated posthumously as "Osho"... but, of course, you get undeniable authority and validity from plagiarizing good sources. --- Crowley I don't know much about, but everything I have read about him, gives me the impression that - like many "experts", his skill is in writing. He lived in a period of time where anything about Asia was brand new to Westerners, so what today might be introductory Eastern Philosophy, back then was startingly different. So, your eloquence in talking and writing about these ideas was what made you famous, not any depth of your knowledge or expertise. But that is just an impression from the biographies I have read.

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? Or is it infinite ? Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ?

Violence is also instinctive. In 1973, Jane Goodall and Richard Wrangham observed a tribe of wild chimpanzees march purposefully to another tribe's territory and attack them in order to take over their resources. This (and later other observations) is clear proof that warfare is a natural practice of primate apes, and therefore is an instinct created by evolution. Like many things proven by science, if it is not flattering to people, then it is ignored. The corollary of this is that racism is also instinctive - mistrust of people who do not look like you, and who do not speak your language, was a massive survival benefit, and was heavily selected. So human beings are naturally violent and racist, they are wired to trust those whom they know personally ("friends and family"), and mistrust everyone else. It takes spiritual practice to overcome these instincts. Of course gender roles are also instinctive - if little girls did not instinctively like dolls, then the human race would have died out millions of years ago. (But modern patriarchy is actually an aberration, since female primates often get to "vote" for leader in other species.)

Respectfully, that was not the question. The question was "Is the Qi available to us limited ?"

I'm reading through the thread when I have spare time, but it is 165 pages, so excuse if this has been covered before. Suppose the breathing for an exercise is 90-70-20 (not referring to any specific combination, just a made up example). If what one actually breathes is 90-60-20, will that prevent the exercise from having much or any effect, or will it just be somewhat less effective, and still work ? Since the percentage numbers are expressed with some precision, is that much precision entirely necessary or just a goal ? If this question has already been posed before, then if someone can repeat the answer, that would be appreciated.

Thanks to zen-bear for your extensive reply to my question. And speaking of your "zen-bear" concept, in case you are not aware of other precedents for thefts by studios, of material presented to them, go to: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5 and scroll all the way down to: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine controversy

I can experience eating the hot dog myself, and understand exactly what it tastes like. But by doing that, I cannot know its source - I don't know if it is made from horse meat or dog meat, or in sanitary conditions or unsanitary conditions. As a jiva, one is inherently limited in perception - by definition - so for information on mundane, specific topics, one must do research. There was once this (actual) conversation between a Disciple and a Teacher: Disciple - " I was totally broke, and getting hungry, and I prayed to God, and shortly thereafter, I came across a $20 bill on the ground ! Doesn't this mean that God will take care of everything for me ? " Teacher - " Yes.... but why don't you make it easier on God and get a job ? "

None taken. However, I am quite familiar with Nisargadatta and his philosophy and its implications. My question is below that level of abstraction. If I go to 14th and Main, and ask the gentleman standing there - "Make me One with Everything"... ... it's because I'm hungry and want a hot dog for lunch.

But that would also apply to 400 people at once. The only conceivable reason to heal 400 people at once, and not 7 billion people at once, is capability to do so.

Okay, but remember that the question is about the Chi available to us. For example, the amount of space in the Universe is perhaps infinite, but the amount of land on Earth is quite finite - to the point where 100 years ago, every bit of it had been claimed and occupied by someone or another.

This is a question for Terry (who is hopefully still monitoring the thread). Early in the thread, you state: My question is kind of philosophical or academic... This "energy" that builds in ones system, what is the source of it ? Please note this is not skeptical, it is just a request for clarification. In other words, no "gotcha" involved. (Almost all information on this topic seems to be solely concerned with results, which is understandable, considering that healing is a very important result to be concerned with.)

The Human Attention examples show that attention IS a "zero-sum game". So, some things are zero-sum and some are not. I do not know enough about Chi theory to say whether that applies to Chi or not - hence I am asking.

Just to clarify, by "limits", I mean limits on the total amount of Chi available to all (not limits on the amount of Chi you can personally use). Here is another example on Human Attention - that might fall within some readers' experience: You are at the yearly family thanksgiving meal, and this time, you think you have some interesting experiences and insights to share. But, one of the other family members is his usual personable, eloquent self, and by the end of the meal, you find that you weren't able to get in a word, amidst all his stories and everyone else's reactions. So that's another example of how Human Attention is limited. If it is given to one thing, it is not available for anything else. In the example, one family member - by his greater skill in communications - monopolizes the available Attention. Then my question is, phrased in a different way - Is it known that Chi is not limited in the same way as Attention ? And is that known by anything other than a vague conventional wisdom that it is available "from the universe" ?

In between your thoughts, there is still awareness. Being aware without thoughts is the focus of meditation. However, if the mind tries to be without thoughts, then it tninks thoughts about being without thoughts. Hence, the trick is to just notice the thought and let it go, without judgement.

I follow topics and select the "daily digest" option, and I still get email notifications after every post. Amusingly, they are titled "Your Daily New Posts Digest"...

By "this" do you mean "Homeland" or "meds for psych issues" ? If the former, it's definitely fashionable - Obama watches it.

Do you mean the trademarked Whole Body Breathing method of Anna Coy, or simply the Buddha's Satipatthana Sutta: “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body” ?

I just went to that same link yesterday because it was posted here, so there are clearly other of your "dharma brothers" here. ( Is there a Taoist word for that Buddhist term ?

Okay, let's consider "human attention". Human attention is limited. In a given day, we each have 24 hours of attention that we can give to things. Since there are 7 billion people, there are 168 billion hours of human attention every day. That is a lot, but it is not infinite. The fact that it is not infinite, means that if there are new subjects of attention, other things lose attention. If there is a new Justin Bieber song, then there are less people paying attention to Lady Gaga and Rihanna. In the 1980s, almost everyone who paid attention to "news stories" was talking about El Salvador and Nicaragua. Nowadays, hardly anyone is aware those countries even exist (and instead people pay attention to the Arab Spring). Another example - if this weekend, there is a very popular movie in the theaters, then people will be giving less attention to other movies. So, something can have a very large quantity, and still be limited. In regards to Chi, some people act as if it were limited. I've seen posts of people afraid that someone would take their Chi (even from posting in this Forum). When something is unlimited, people tend to mostly ignore it...

I'm reading old threads on subjects of interest to me, and I check the profile of members who had particularly interesting things to say. I kept noticing that their last posting date was either very recent, or it was June or July 2011. Is that just a coincidence (small sample error) ? Or was there some sort of controversy/disagreement in the summer of 2011 on the Forum (that caused some to simply leave) ?

There is a trick, which is that there is evidence that the problem with grains is the grain form itself. So, once the grain (seed) is planted, and sprouts, the result is a vegetable, like any other vegetable. So, you may find that products made from 100% sprouted grains do not have the same adverse effect as grains and flour. Strangely enough, the ancient verse Ezekiel 4:9 is about making bread in exactly the same way and a company called "Food For Life" makes breads from 100% sprouted grains called - cleverly - "Ezekiel 4:9 bread". They even make tortillas and english muffins from the recipe. Places like Whole Foods or equivalent carry this - it is usually refrigerated.