Prince...

You should try it sometime, Mal. I was serious...I often watch movies while standing. I slacked off when it got cold, and I've had to move back to Nashville to assist aging family members. When it was warm, I practiced 30 minutes of standing just before sunrise before going off to do my Taiji & kettle bell workout. In the evening I would spend about an hour on Yiquan and watch a Shaw Brother's movie. When I was outside, I was not focusing on the dantien or what was going on inside. I was watching the squirrels play and making adjustments to my structure. I did this everyday from mid-July until early October when it started getting colder in Kentucky. I don't have any chakras spinning or active chi sensations. What I can do is stand a lot longer than I could last year this time, and my pushhands partners have been telling me that I'm holding back way too much (meaning I'm a lot stronger at pushhands now). Sorry if this doesn't help you with your original question. I've given up on the cultivation/chi mastery stuff. I just do zhan zhuang because I like my teacher's gongfu and Yiquan is the foundation of our Taiji, Hsing-Yi, and Bagua.

Eyes forward watching last week's episode of Glee on Hulu.

SreufFevUSw I soooooo want to see this!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you with a response. In response the "bloodthirsty" stories and "wrathful" God depicted in the Hebrew Bible, many of these stories are not true or did not happen as written. What you have is a writer telling their version of some event based on their understanding. People are human and present things from their point of view which may or may not be unbiased. Some of the prophets along with Jesus of Nazareth actually voiced concerns over the written Torah. As for making Christian mysticism the main stream, someone else will have to take up that mantle. Lots of things can happen in a year's time. Although I have not learned to read the Bible in Greek, I have learned enough to know that I cannot serve the Church without telling a lie. And that's all I have to say about that... edit: I also need to comment on the decision not to include the Hebrew Bible until 400 CE: where did you read this? Up until the canonization of the New Testament, the only "Bible" was the Septuagint, the "Old Testament" scriptures still in use by the Catholic Church. There were groups that rejected the Hebrew Bible at that time, but they were viewed as heretics.

See a doctor. Don't disclose any energy related practices unless you want to go talk to a shrink shortly after seeing your general practitioner. Don't jump to any conclusions that it is energy related because it would suck to find out that what you thought was "blocked energy" was really early stages of Parkinson's or Essential Tremor. Take the time to rule out all of the negatives.

I met Rama back in the spring. He is a really nice man. He used to practice Silat and loves to talk about energy, martial arts, and healing. I think some guy got pissed off and left the Reiki Tummo seminar after asking Rama some questions about kundalini energy when Rama's answers did not agree with his research. Either way, Rama laughed it off, wished him well, and continued. Most of the participants in the Reiki Tummo seminar that I attended were nurses and healthcare workers interested in adding more tricks to their bag. I left feeling refreshed, calm, and focused. I was not all that interested in Reiki or their system, but I attended to check out something different. If you're into healing and devotional practices, this might be worth checking out-- I prefer stuff related to martial arts.

So what you're saying is that if I choose to pick up a D.Min at my school, I should not go around calling myself Dr. because it's bullshit, right? I mean it's not like I will not have spent 10+ years studying Christian theology, learning Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. I mean it's not like Susan can't hold her own in a theological discussion or something. I mean it's not like I go to her for help after sitting in class with people from Ph.D's from Yale, Princeton, and Vanderbilt. Also, her church and seminary is HER church-- so you're basically calling her appointed position within her church AND her church bullshit. Nice going...and what have you done that makes you an authority? You know...I don't know shit about Max Christensen. I did not try Kunlun even though I have the book. People liked it and everytime I looked up someone was talking shit about Kunlun or Max. The minute Santi said he trained under Doc, people started talking shit about KAP and Santi. I don't know shit about David Verdesi, but alot of posters here talk shit about him. I'm starting to realize now why a friend of mine had me remove my posts when I mentioned his teacher, because he did not want some of you butt hurt bitches talking shit about him. Some of you need to get off your zafus, stop eating so much damn tofu, and quit worrying about what other people do. Oh yeah, "That Guy," if you've attained so much, why are you asking for a demonstration? You could've sent Santi a PM asking for a good time to check him out down in Miami or some other venture. I guess you felt the need to make it public, though...yeah...you seem like "that guy" who is into circlejerking. Go sit in full lotus next to your homeboy Drew and figure that one out, pussy. I'm done with this place for awhile. Happy Holidays.

wow...my respect for this forum just diminished greatly. Some of you are really world-class losers.

This is a good conversation, but let's get down to business. Does this guy have the goods? I do yang taiji. My teacher is good, but he cannot teach me this stuff. I get what y'all are saying about a good person will relax and may not fall for the same thing twice--my rebuttal to this is that how likely is it that the average ass clown on the street wanting to knock your head off will be able to completely relax? I know the thing to say is "well, I hope I never have to use this in real life." If you're good to a point where you can actually harm someone, then I hope so. In my case, I am not very large and come into contact with shady people on a consistent basis. Last year a girl rear-ended my car due to her road rage. I was not hurt, but I thought I would teach her a lesson by calling the cops. Within 10 minutes her dad and her uncle showed up on the scene wanting to fight me. The cops showed up pretty quick, but had they not, I could have gotten jumped by those two guys. Right now I'm working on my foundation with my teacher. When I graduate, I'm looking for someone with the goods to study with...and if they can't or won't deliver, then I'll find someone who will.

In Phillip St. Romain's book, there is a section relating the experiences of Christian mystics to Kundalini. To respond to a previous post, and yours, I am going to have to say that St. Romain found his experiences to be somewhat consistent with those of Gopi Krishna. The problem with the literature, according to St. Romain, is that Christian mystics just say what they experience. They don't call it Kundalini, Holy Spirit, or anything. In whatever language of the time of the writing they describe an experience. I remember reading some of those works back in college (before knowing the little I do know about kundalini) and thinking "what the hell are these people talking about?" There is not really anything in Christian literature about kundalini, as far as saying flat out "this is kundalini." I even have material from a Christian mystic who passed away in the early 90's and he is very cryptic when it comes to Kundalini saying it is only for the advanced students. I have heard Kundalini expressed as Holy Spirit. I don't like this description because Kundalini is from one tradition, Holy Spirit is from another. I agree with fiveelementtao in that I do not like crossing traditions. I do see a HUGE resemblance between Pentacostalism and Siddha yoga (not sure if this is the proper term... whatever form of yoga is all based on recieving shaktipats from a Guru). At the same time, I don't see all practices or all religions as being the same. There are some shared aspects that I believe help one to experience that which transcends the God (or Gods) of Religion, but that doesn't make them the same. Gonna let this go because I'm starting to sound too academic and I come here to NOT be an academic...

no real response for you, Drew. I can't speak for Phillip St. Romain. He has a forum up if you'd like to ask him for yourself. I will add that most of the people there are Christians and do not care for a scientific explanation about the nuts and bolts of kundalini. Most of them are afraid because they have spontaneously aroused kundalini and want someone to assure them that they won't go to hell because of it. Also, I don't think they are interested in learning Spring Forest Qigong either. (sorry, I had to get you)

Gonna have to go along with Scotty on this one. There is a message board for Christians who have aroused kundalini-- the majority of them having no idea what kundalini was until much later. The owner of the board is Phillip St. Romain, author of Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality. He had a complete awakening over the course of 3 years (well 17 years if you start with him recieving the gift of speaking in tongues). He did not study under a yogi or do any K-specific practices-- just centering prayer every morning for an hour before work.

It would be awesome if Santi could do this, since Moses did not actually part the Red Sea. What the scripture actually says is they crossed the Sea of Reeds. That happened to Hundun in a topic about "Path Notes". I tried searching for it, but I have not been able to find it. I guess the 100k that was sunk into my bachelor's degree in Religion; the 50k+ it will cost me to complete my Master's of Divinity degree and get ordained; and what I've spent learning taiji and meditation should all just be thrown away so that I can teach for free, right? When the utilities companies are turning off the lights and water to my home AND the utilities to the church, I can say "hey bro, I teach for free, it's cool." When the mortgage company wants their money on my home AND the church property, I can say "hey it's cool, bro, I teach for free." I know a real Taoist priest who was raised in a temple. He travels the country teaching the Qigong from his temple. Guess what? He charges! I guess he should teach for free, right? Maybe he should get a dayjob? Cool, but tell me how many places are going to hire a 90 year old chinese guy that doesn't speak much english. ~jK~, or whatever it is you call yourself, you are full of shit, and I mean that. Just two quotes I would like to share: JC, Magus of Java Doc, Path Notes Not everyone who meditates/cultivates/etc is seeking enlightenment. I'm not. For me, that's up to God.

Yes...it's a total waste of time.

Never seen that myself, but Phillips has his assistant touch his back and he releases from his back. My teacher told me something similar with his teacher.

Ray's school is in El Paso. Michael Phillips says in another video that he teaches in Tucson. Kelly Graham also has a Tucson phone number listed at the bottom of the link you provided. The video I saw was from 2008, so if you know that Phillips is teaching somewhere else, let me know. I seriously plan to drop by and pay him a visit when I have a chance. For those of you saying "this stuff is simple, anyone can learn it." My teacher has not yet showed me anything like this and his teacher is Yang Jun-- the head of Yang Family Taiji. My teacher's taiji is very good. He can show and demonstrate combat applications with any posture, but he says up front that he cannot do stuff like Mr. Phillips is demonstrating. Yang Jun on the other hand, well, I have heard some interesting stories about his skills-- and I do not know if he teaches everything. Edit: Just found his website :http://michael-phillips.net even better, I'm hoping to move back to San Diego after school

Saw the "Check him out if you live close" part and was like uhh...okay where is he? Seminar was hosted in El Paso, Mr. Phillips is in Tucson. I have family in Phoenix, so I'm hoping he's still teaching when I get a chance to get out to AZ. He will also be hosting a seminar at that same school in El Paso on 19 DEC, I believe.

I like Zhao Cong. She's a pipa player. I recently ordered her CD, but I cannot find the CD she did with a guitar player. I also think she's HOT, but women with musical talents seem to do it for me. Zhao Cong, Ambushed from All Sides http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHLTmnYSDoQ Zhao Cong, Moonlight on Spring River Zhao Cong, Dance Tune of the Yi Tribe I also like to listen to Mercan Dede's newest CD, Mercanistan. It's like turkish hip hop (sort of). Santiago turned me on to them during a full moon shaktipat back in September. Mercan Dede- Mercanistan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQ9bHiv0ls

Go out and get some credentials. Knowing stuff is good, but having something to show that you "know stuff" gets you paid. I hope to one day teach taiji. I have studied before and have lots of DVDs to keep me busy with Taiji and Wingchun stuff for years. I went out and joined the Yang Family Taiji Association. What did they do? Have me buy the Yang Family's instruction DVDs and tell me to show up to class so the teacher can make corrections. So I'm still learning from a DVD-- BUT I have a teacher to correct me, AND I will eventually have certificates signed by the Yang Family saying that they approve of me teaching their taiji. My friend back home was contacted by the Nissan plant and the Dell plant to teach Taiji at their respective campuses. If I were being interviewed for some similar position with some other people who have studied Yang style Taiji for X number of years and I can show my ties to the Yang Family, who do you think sounds like they offer the best product? So having credentials, even if they don't actually mean much, can be lucrative in our society. I actually did not mean to go into Taiji-- I was going to say that I have a similar goal. I am writing a paper for my Faith Seeking & Understanding class on this topic (sort of). We are dealing with how Christianity deals with other Religions. Anyway, I am interested in teaching meditation/qigong/taiji/etc. I have realized that meditation does not belong to Buddhists or Taoists (even though some ignorant people at my Seminary seem to think it does), Qigong and/or Neigong are not religious practices. I want to teach these things. I don't intend to sugar coat anything with Christian terms because that does this stuff injustice. If someone wants to know the philosophy behind a movement or a form, I will hand them a reading list and directions to the nearest library. The average Christian does not read the Bible, so I know they will not read any obscure writings dealing with cultivation. So yeah-- that's how I am seeking a spiritual job. I am going into the ministry. I am a Christian and this is what works for me. It helps that I already have a bachelor's in Religion and am a veteran attending Seminary on the GI Bill-- which means I basically go for free. I'm also taking KAP with Santi and studying Taiji. Hopefully in 3 years, I will have a little bit of "juice" and understanding of KAP that Santi may allow me to teach a watered down version-- if they want the goods, I'll send them to Santi; a decent ranking in the Yang Family Association; and a Master's in Divinity degree along with ordination in sacrament and word from my church. Whatever you want to do is going to take some work-- but having some sort of credentials will be well worth the time you take to get them.

Oh come on Jesus....just turn the stones into bread. I mean how is that gonna hurt anything, you do want to feed the hungry, right? C'mon Jesus, just turn the stones into bread and prove your God is real.

hahahaha...Pavel! I know an RKC certified guy back home...I guess he's a Senior RKC guy. I guess he's "tubby" and strong as an ox. Last I checked, he was 260, he does Jook Lum Mantis and trust me, you don't want to feel his hands. I made the mistake of telling him that I don't know what Tiger Claw is. You really don't want a guy demonstrating that to you that can rip a stack of cards in half with his bare hands. GV0mj1plfwo

Darin, I'd like to know if some of the stuff you say in this video about Reverse Breathing and chi cultivation has changed after having studied with Santiago? 8KrJKwNvT8s I'd like to know more specifically how you integrated KAP into your Taiji practice. You can respond to me in a PM or we can talk about it on skype sometime if you want. Too bad I am not ready for my rank test, I would have been in Detroit last weekend at our taiji school up there!

I'm a broke black guy guess I'd better start a megachurch! *giggles* I think this thread has turned into do any kids stare at bums!

I don't drink that often. I did have a beer last night with some friends, but I couldn't finish all of it. I actually despise the taste of beer. I'm a seminary student right now (hence being on a budget) study Taiji...I'm missing class tonight because I feel like I'm coming down with something and have a Hebrew quiz in the morning. I graduated KAP1 and am taking KAP2, so I do the Qigong from KAP and a Taiji qigong set I learned which is actually in The Dao of Taijiquan by Jou Tsung Hwa. I'm about 5-7, 190 lbs right now, but I look like I'm 160. I'd like to actually weigh 160 but look like I do right now... hahaha.