taoguy

I appreciate your good will. However, the part I quoted is simply incorrect. It is the kind of lie that gets propagated again and again in the 'mind-only' crowd. Just because you do not dwell in it does not mean that they are "not needed". This is the kind of statement that will destroy the Dharma - the Buddha himself said that his Dharma will be destroyed when a 'new, false Dharma' is propagated over his own words, and beings cannot tell the difference between the real and false. Can you hold yourself responsible for that kind of karma? If you can, then I will listen to you. If you truly know Buddhism, you will know that in nearly every single sutra, shastra or Tantra that you can find, you are right - jhana is certainly not the goal. However, it is part of the Noble Eightfold Path, and yes, it is absolutely needed for enlightenment. Awakening to the Path is not the same as Enlightenment. Sudden awakening is not the same as completely purifying the seeds in the Alaya consciousness and freeing yourself from karmic forces that do not exist inside the brain neither inside one's vijnana consciousness. Many people, upon hearing the Buddha, have sudden faith in the Buddha and the path he teaches - 'awakening'. Some had already been cultivating in Brahman ways, using kundalini and all that, and simply needed guidance in prajna-wisdom, just like one of the ascetics that approached the Buddha. Even in the Zen texts, there are records of Small and Great awakenings. There are 'mind-seals' that are non-verbally transmitted from master to disciple. This is the basis of lineages or Shaktipat or initiations. Some awaken fast because they have already done the work in previous lifetimes. Some awaken slow because they do the work in their current lifetime. I quote the Buddha himself from the Jhana sutta: And the Buddha's own words on whether one should cultivate them purposefully in the Magga-vibhanga Sutta: As enlightened Nan Huai Jin says, the 'Mahayana' approach of trying to simply non-dwell is incomplete because you also need the development of the body along with the development of the mind. This is supported very easily by looking at any sutta in the Pali Canon to do with the meditation procedure - they are referred to as bodily sankhara and mental sankhara. He teaches that without Hinayana enlightenment, even dreaming of Mahayana enlightenment is futile and is delusional. Even the Bodhisattva teachings were only given after the disciples became Arahants. Yes, Zazen meditation can eventually lead to that - but as he further explains, most people simply go into dead-tree Zen where they do not awaken the yuan-chi or Kundalini. Instead, they cultivate themselves to become mindless ghosts that rebirth as animals. So jhana itself is required, because jhanas 1 to 2 indicate purification of body sankharas, jhanas 3 to 4 indicate purification of mental sankharas (some) and as quoted above, the samadhis beyond 4th jhana deal with higher mental 'fermentations', eventually leading to full enlightenment. Nan Huai Jin described it as generating the 'mind created from intent' - in the Buddhist texts this is called the mano-kaya, or the 'body generated by will' or the 'Rainbow Body' in Tantra. This body is used as the vehicle to move towards full enlightenment. I completely agree - yes, they are not the goal. But how many can really accomplish it? Genuinely? It is equivalent to becoming a 'demi-god' with deva-powers (this is from the Buddha again - in that first jhana corrresponds to the first rupa-heaven and so on). Devas that can move in and out of realms, have far more accomplished senses than we have, and a higher intelligent faculty.

Thank you so much Sifu Terry. I apologise if this has been brought up before (still reading past posts) but how should I place my attention while doing the Flying Phoenix form to achieve the best effect? I've tried: Doing nothing Doing loving-kindness (without words), just good-will Light visualisation (I and the universe are one) Emptiness - vipasanya-like Focusing on the hands/chi I ask this because I know Flying Phoenix works at the level of the subconscious - does this mean that it doesn't matter what the conscious mind does? Should I just do nothing? Guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you. With palms together.

Oh Chunyi is real alright. I know Drew has an opinion on the cruise thing he does annually, but frankly when he does the world-healing, you can really feel the energy just radiating from the masters blessing the waters. Someone so full of love and compassion shouldn't be slandered in that way.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm simply replying to the question above because he asked about the 8 channels and what they were. I never said dropping things is something I don't do. Teachings are there to make sure you're doing things the right way. Even the Buddha himself needed a mentor (his previous masters in past lives). Even if you think you're 'dropping things', are you really dropping things, or clinging to a false-emptiness? That's another issue teachings can resolve. Teachings help to tell people - hey, you're doing this wrong and hey, you're doing this right - that's all. They're methods and landmarks. But landmarks also mean that if people do not experience them, they are simply not in the same ching-tzeh (jing-jie/alambana/realm). Everything happens in realm, conduct and fruit. Disregarding landmarks is in my opinion a very dumb thing to do, because masters have already laid out the map, and if you don't use that to verify your own progress, it's akin to walking alone, which you could do if you're a Pratekya-buddha but frankly the chances of that is minuscule. I believe people have attained samadhi here, that's why I'm asking who has reached jhana. I'm not asking anything about my own practice. But I guess people want to keep their achievements secret, which I respect. What I feel a little strange about this is that people are giving advice on my practice instead of saying whether they have gone through the landmarks. Pretty weird, as if there is some mentor-complex going on here. But I do appreciate the reminders, perhaps you read the energetic signature behind my words and I've definitely taken the advice - if you've already seen that I've clicked 'Thanks' on the posts before. Even if someone is enlightened, they shouldn't think they are enlightened, because that indicates a grasping to ego and self-achievement. They could 'call' themselves enlightened according to the realm they are in though. But I guess that's another reason why someone in jhana wouldn't reveal that they are.

I meant the Qi Jing Ba Mai (8 extraordinary vessels) of the Taoist system: The chong mai is essentially similar to your central sushumna: Quoting a famous Chan master from this excerpt: He is saying that the 8 extraordinary vessels must all be opened for people to feel the first factor of the first Dhyana (joy and bliss). He also says you no longer have lust in this realm, so I assume this is similar to Taoist jing accumulation (when full of jing, there is no lust; full of chi, no eating; full of shen, no sleep).

I felt heat the first few times I sat too. That shows an indication that the body isn't too healthy. Burning through blockages. Body getting more sensitive than before. Hormones readjusting in the body, causing 'hot flushes'. Got to get a better diet, exercise more, do more qigong and meditate more. Still good, because gosh knows what will happen if you accumulate blockages in the body like that... it hides for a long time and comes back as nasty diseases. I notice that I get heat especially if I've just ate and sat down for a meditation - if you're doing that, please wait at least an hour and a half before trying to meditate after a meal.

Dear Sifu Terry, Thank you so much for your previous post. One thing I couldn't help but notice was the idea of using the subconscious mind to affect the health. In Taoist terms, would this mean the 'shen' itself is guiding the chi on its own? I was thinking of that because it's called Fei Feng Shen Gong and not Qi Gong. Haha! I have a question about the postures. I'm trying to spend as much time as possible on the lower two CDs to really build a solid foundation. For the knee bending, is it advisable to bend to the level of a horse-stance, or is it okay to do it mildly like what is shown in the DVD? Based on DVD 1 and 2 (until my full set arrives), what would be a good routine to do? I'm currently doing: a. Wind Above the Clouds b. Bending the Bows c. Monk Gazing At Moon d. Monk Holding Peach e. Monk Holding Pearl f. seated Monk Serves Wine #2 (50 40 30 10) One thing I realized lately was that my entire head seemed to have orgasms. This happened especially by the time I was doing the seated meditation. The orgasms started out on the back of the head and then slowly spread throughout the entire crown and I was literally having an orgasm on my head (that sounds so weird but this really happened). Maybe this was the brain-washing feeling that you were talking about? If it is, then may I know what's the next 'milestone' people normally get? I was wondering about the concept of Grace. From what I know, Grace descends upon people when they cultivate enough 'merit', in Buddhist terms, allowing mother Shakti to awaken the dormant Kundalini at the root of the spine and run it through the chakras. From what one master once said, when we open the root chakra (at the Hai-Di point) we can often feel a very stark difference and can possibly hear the sounds of the chakra itself. You mentioned that it does so in a 'gentle' fashion, are these characteristic of the openings that come about from FP? One thing i realized was that when I simply just sat to do normal meditation right after the session, I went into a deep, calm state very very easily. Would you recommend meditation right after the sequence? Thank you again. Edit for one more question: I recently read that when crown chakra is opened, there is a realm of pure blue-sky. I wonder if this is the blue light that some practitioners of FP talk about?

Yes I've realized this as well. Been doing exercises in loosening my identities. Ever since I was born, I was not interested in living life at all. Not in a suicidal way, but I just wanted to live simply. I wanted to be a caveman of some sort because I thought the 'sophisticated' world was just a waste of time and mental-masturbation. I couldn't understand why people 'conditioned' themselves. Frankly, if I had the opportunity to lose everything, I don't care about anything else, I would... Perhaps the only residue I have is paying the debt to my parents. I'm not sure what you mean by the path here. I'm not interested in play-things really. I'm not even interested in extension of life or immortality. I just find all of these projection work, all of these ornamental things just... confetti in the air. I just want to know - who the heck am 'I'? I hope this happens, definitely. I understand. I can describe the taste of an apple based on books, but I can't experience it for myself. Do you recommend Raja Yoga for jhanas towards liberation?

I see people's characters and their insights compared to my own practice, but of course it's not the best judgement... Still better than none haha I would love a teacher frankly, but there is so much erroneous stuff out there and the real teachers are situated too far away from me but I'd definitely go once I have the schedule down. I agree about learning, that's why I'm always open for debate or other perspectives, provided they show that they walk the talk. I guess my question would be... Let's say we do non-dwelling meditation. Why is it that when I stay in a state of observation, yes, I do get some bliss, but there's nothing beyond that? I do get to points where I don't feel my body for example. But there's always this 'plateau' or point where nothing goes on. It feels as if I hit a stumbling block each time. Surely some kind of deeper-layer stuff should come up. But it's not really doing it.

Opps I just realized there was a thread here. Could I have one?

Dear Sifu Terry Dunn, Thank you so much for the clarifications, I really appreciate it. I had my doubts about that chart as it juxtaposed another Chan master who I follow the teachings of (Nan Huai Chin) so thank you for shedding light on that. I'll check out the document for sure, it looks very handy and well-researched. Would be great to see its relationship to Kundalini in the flying phoenix book Subconscious health-regulation sounds like exactly what I am looking for! I believe if this is true, science needs to investigate the relationship between the brain-centers and the various endocrine, nervous and immune systems. Definitely out of its reach, but perhaps I can advance the field in future with research Oh wow, I'm having that 'brain-washing' experience right now. According to Nan Huai Chin, he calls this the Sui Xi (随)/Following-breath stage that reaches to the point where the throat opens up so that the brain can 'breathe'. He also says the highest-stage of sui-xi is when the 'breath' or 'qi' is able to reach the soles or heels of the feet. Also, he agrees with 'every single cell' breathing. Eventually, he says it leads to 止息/Shamata/Stopping-breath. From extreme yin comes yang, and he says kundalini rises from the stillness to burn through obstructions of the body until the entire body has no feeling. He goes as far as to claim that while walking on snow, there are no footprints. Assuming the chart shared before is wrong, then NHJ's should be more accurate. Nan Huai Jin's framework is going from first jhana, second jhana, third jhana and fourth jhana to arahant fruit. He also described the Yang-shen produced in Tao and Longevity. Then from Arahant fruit to Bodhisattva fruit. Corresponds to Jing to Chi, Chi to Shen, Shen to Emptiness, Emptiness to Tao. Shall read the link I want to take FP up as my main practice now. Thank you again! -taoguy

Very true. And just to add on, some mantras require 'empowerments' (I think there are three types) in order to be used. It's a highly secretive, or even formalized thing that taps into lineages, so that's why it's extremely strict. I had an empowerment for Om Ami Dewa Hrih and I realized that there was a difference before reciting and after, but that may be placebo, I do not know, but I can feel a tangible joyful feeling in the heart. I can't reveal more than that. It is also worth going for empowerments by recognised, genuine tulkus because you tend to be in the presence of other unseen beings I once smelt lotuses or jasmine-like smells in the air, as if someone was throwing flowers. The ones that are safe to chant are generally Avalokitesvara or Chenrizig mantras. Most commonly is the Great Compassion Dharani/Mantra or the 6-word-syllable chant. I think you can still get empowerment for them as well, not too sure. I'm also not sure about the Vajrasattva ones, but you can do a search on them - be sure that the books have legit lineages and are by Rinpoches, etc. Other mantras like Surangama Mantra can require a person to be vegetarian and avoid the 5 spices, as well as follow the direct instructions of the Surangama Sutra itself - so you gotta read it completely too. If not the dharma-protectors (not the Buddhas!) can get angry and cause problems for the practitioner. Some require altars. Some powers vanish when you take onions or garlics, etc. So got to be careful before reciting them. I don't think I'm being superstitious here at all because even Theravadan chants have showed great power in driving away evil spirits. It's just unseen to a majority of us. The absolute safest one is propagated by Zen master Nan Huai Chin, known as the Zhunti mantra or Cundi mantra. The empowerment comes from the Cundi Mother Buddha herself after about 200,000 repetitions (or more depending on merit). It's a light empowerment/baptism through the crown.

My understanding of mantras is the following: 1. Mantras serve as a way to 'tie up' the discriminatory mind so that it cannot produce further bright or dark 'karma' by reacting to the egoic mindstream. Instead of engaging the crazy mind-stream of perceptions and sensations, the mind is actively engaging the mantra. Instead of allowing it to amplify in karmic effect for example, we do the Vajrasattva 100-syllable purification mantra. True practice is like the Pureland practice - continuously reciting even when doing daily chores, settling down the mind at the same time. 2. Mantras are to be matched with the breath and said internally if possible. If done correctly, the breath should calm down and the entire mental state should become still, especially if done in everyday life. 3. Mantras have an effect that only high-level Bodhisattvas are able to describe in mechanism (low-bhumi ones also can't!). But in gist, mantras allow some kind of connection between the mantra and the being called. I wouldn't say mantras are completely different from the breath. But mantras deal with the 8th alaya consciousness and the 5 senses, as compared to breath meditation which focuses on gong-fu, working on the 6th and 7th consciousnesses.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

I follow the teachings of a late Chan master who taught zazen meditation. But I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly. That's why I'm seeking someone who's experienced jhana.

If you have experienced jhanas, I am still willing to listen.

How about you? Have you tested out his claims? Because I try as much as I can to not listen to 'proxies' and if I could I would contact Absolutus to find out if he is genuine. But I was wondering if you had any experience after following his instructions?

Have you experienced Jhana with that yet? What if 'clinging onto the present' or 'clinging onto emptiness' itself is also clinging? I'm not interested in that... nor about powers. I'm only interested in liberation from suffering.

I'm not sure what you mean. Maybe you meant something like if I am clinging to form, cut it. I'm not looking for forms to cling onto, but insights to destroy my delusional state.

I don't want to obtain it. I want to know how to reach it. Non-grasping is not the same as not getting there. I want to reach that sublime state so that I can realize dharma-nature. A Chan-master taught that all things happen in threes. appearance/jing-jie/alambana/realm conduct/function/action fruit of conduct I wish to be able to reach that jing-jie so that the proper understanding of prajna can be sought. Without that jing-jie, it is just intellectual understanding, no matter how many prajnaparamita sutras I can read. Without the jhana fruit (deva realm) I cannot reach the Arhat fruit. Without the Arhat fruit I certainly cannot reach the Bodhisattva fruit.

Just an update, I just did the purification again and it is working out well. I had borrowed the first FP DVD from my friend (while my DVD set continues to ship over slowly haha) and I realised that I was doing the breath sequence wrongly and that might have caused my sicknesses to arise. I counted 1,2,3...10 for each inhalation and then released 1,2,3,4,5 for example for 50% etc. Then I realized later that I inverted the count and did it on the inhale instead of exhale. Stupid me! My god! But last night when I followed the DVD to the T again, and my entire body felt much better. I do believe that it might have been the wrong breath sequence that caused a internal energy problem. Looking forward to receiving all 5 DVDs so I can practice the sitting meditations Thanks phil48. I asked this other master (Chunyi lin) about it in a teleseminar and he said to protect against external energies we can put our index and thumb fingers together. I'm going to change my mindset to a positive, more healing one, and also do the mudra haha. Hopefully FP helps too. Also, I was wondering... I do anapana breath meditation. Is FP compatible with this kind of meditation?

Wow. I had to download, flip the video and then watch it at 0.3x speed to follow along. Even done slowly I could feel the energy and I felt most of my 'flu-like symptoms' and heatiness being flushed away. (Attached it here for people who want a mirrored version so they can copy GMDW's moves exactly as if following a mirror. I used VLC media player to reduce the speed of playback.) Would be interested if there was a particular routine using FP to both build energy and flush out sick qi grandmaster_doo_wai's_detox_qigong.mp4

Looking much forward to receiving the DVDs (it takes one month to reach me ), especially the Monk Serves Wine for hospital work, night shifts and long-hours. I'm not sure if this was answered in my previous post... but I was wondering if there was a specific exercise in FP that allows the expelling of sick chi, especially if it comes from patients that I'm handling throughout the day. I love to help, also to heal, but I realize that most doctors end up being at a norm of 'sick' and frankly aren't energetically at a good level to heal people. Would be great to know. Thank you

According to Ajahn Brahm, he claims the kasina is a reflection of the mind itself. In Taoism, it might be the original spirit cavity that produces the spirit-light.

Thank you sifu terry, that post was great. This reminded me of something I read by someone I respect a lot (enlightened Zen master's student) (link to post and link to book chapter). He says his teacher taught him the phases as the following: Arousal of kundalini and energy channel stuff, including jhanas, is in the Preparation stage. After seeing Tao, true cultivation practice is perfecting behaviour (removing greed, ignorance and anger) and deepening realization. Then moving up the Bodhisattva bhumi stages to full Buddhahood. Exactly like you said above... clarity and calm through jhanas + insight until Tao is realized, then the 'karma yoga' to remove afflictions, neuroses, etc.