thaddeus

Good point. I'll think of something... But as someone pointed out in a later post, herbs are food for the most part. If I don't eat enough vitamin c, i'll get scurvy (and as linus pauling pointed out probably heart disease too). So if I eat a lemon, is that taking an herbal remedy? If I've been running from a predator and my adrenals are tired and I eat a ginseng root, is that a poison? There's just something wrong with the idea of saying ALL herbs are poisons and we don't need them because we have food plus whatever our current philosophy says is a healthy life style. Perhaps an 'herb' is something more powerful than a 'food'. Since it's impossible to live without any stress, we may need these powerful food sometimes to bring us back to balance. I don't see that as a bad thing. Anyway, interesting ideas nonetheless.. T

I think the herbs exist for a reason, and we discovered their healing effects over time. Apples will not relieve pain or kill bacteria. Everything has a place.. T

This article makes way too many sweeping generalizations about herbal remedies. At some point it talks about general herbal remedies, then talks about extracts of the remedies that are taken as drugs, then throws in some generalized nonsense about how they work in body as 'poisons'. What's the point to this? If I make a tea out of He Shou Wu with Goji berry why am i poisoning my body? It's just food. The article makes a valid point about extracting the active constituent and making a drug out of it, but isn't that obvious already? One can argue that *any* pill is a poison... but now that I think about it, anything you ingest in your body is a 'poison' in the sense it generates free radicals. Even the air we breathe and the emotions we feel generate free radicals. T

This reminds me of those hypothetical 'if you had to choose to sleep with x or y who would you sleep with' and then dealing with all the objections finally by saying ' OK if g-d came down from heaven and said you HAD to choose, who would you choose'... lol. Not to be difficult, but how 'bout if we put some context to this. Who are the 9 people, because we'll all come up with our own scenarios that fit our ideas. For example, i could say there are 3 kids, 3 moms, and 3 terrorists, so I'll pick the terrorists... let's make this more difficult.. who wants to name the cast of characters? T

It was hard for me to tear the ethics part out of the thought experiment. I'm a possibility thinker and I hate to narrowly go through just one option (i.e. someone has to go). For example, at work, I've led brainstorming discussions and know how the power of group discussion can yield some very interesting solutions. So I would make saving everyone the goal and figure out creative ways to do it. It would be terrible to kill someone off and then figure out if we all sat a different way we could have saved that person. So for me, I'm all for creative ways to solve the puzzle. If I was ever a prisoner or taken hostage, I believe I'm the person that escapes or kills the hostage takers. It's hard for me to think of a situation where I have no choice but to pick someone to die. Then in that case I'd probably choose the person that would allow the most to continue living. For example, if we are all hanging on a rope, I'd have to pick the one person that is going to make everyone else die faster. I used to joke at work about this guy that was a pure 'taker' in that he didn't have much to offer, but was always taking. He ate the most, drank the most, and did the least amount of work. I always said if we were stuck somewhere, he'd be the first person I killed off. I'm not sure I could bank on future possibilities of people, meaning their potentials because you have no way of knowing if that person will actually come through with their abilities. And I don't believe it's up to me and my own filters to judge who is worthy. I would just make calculated decisions to make sure the most can continue to live. T

Hi Freeform, When dealing with the world of self-perception and 'feelings' there is no way to tell if you are doing it right or if you are deluded. When I hear about people's experiences about things like the MCO, I don't give it much more than a grain of salt. Some people are better story tellers, writers, descriptors than others. Some people will speak colorfully of a geyser spouting streams of golden liquid bursting into arrays of colorful sunshine where the soul opened up into the eyes of g-d. Others say, 'it felt hot'. It may be fun to a point to talk about it, it just really doesn't mean anything--and it certainly is not an indication of correct practice or not. Perhaps it's better to measure results. Is one getting sick, aging abnormally, how are one's relationships, how is one's ability to function in society, all these things can be the 'fruit' so to speak of correct practice. Just talking off the top of my head.. T

Couldn't one argue that the same effect could be gotten from counting sheep or doing the rosary? Doesn't mean there is anything special about it. T

This is a profound question. Probably the more sure you are that something is real, the more deluded you are. Something to always be aware of. T

I was never able to get that Michael Frost book. We always say 'mind and body are one' so you would expect a physical coordination with the mental aspects. I think, as with thoughts, in the beginning it's a gross movement like a 'pump' but probably gets more refined to the fascia level on the physical side and becomes closer to simple intention on mental side...that's how the physical and mental merge and evolve..

lol sorry about that..i fixed my mistake. I just picked up his revised opening the energy gates book and it sounds familiar, so I'll check in there..thanks! T

So what happened on that day..there were 331 people online at 7:40pm.. T

Hi Turbo, I'm interested in this as I've become aware of some restrictions in my diaphragm area and between the shoulder blades i'm working on loosening. One of the reviewers of the DVD on amazon said it totally stunk. How much did the DVD actually help vs. your own knowledge that you applied to what you saw? Know what I mean? T

Hey, so I was skeptical as hell. However, I have to say after downloading his book, that it's a real pleasure to read. You are not going to find any great technical secrets revealed in there. But it's something I feel if a beginner started reading, they would be on a great start. I can't say that about most of the qigong books out there. There's a lot of great information on chinese superstition thinking, which I like to read about (not because I believe in it per se, but because if you understand it and appreciate it, you can gain some understanding of the language and mindset of alot of the oldtimers). Also, if you are interested in the history and stories behind the chinese characters, get this book just for that. Master Wu's sincerity comes off the pages. This is somebody I would make an effort to meet and study with if I could. If you remember I once asked if there were any sources that were non-mantakchia, well this guy is it. I'm looking forward to meeting him one day. T

All these ying/yang fire/water/element theories are cool, but you can't overthink them. It's not meant to apply a western analytical mentality to them. It's intuitive and anyone rationalizing things according to something like the 5 element theory is way off the mark. It's like a tarot card reader whipping out a book to understand the cards. I would look for ways that people had success with agoraphobia, if you need to put a name to it, and find out what seems to work. However, ultimately whatever therapy you choose, it's up to you. T

I was thinking the book might be better. There's a clip on the dragondoor website. If he's just showing the movements it would be cool as a reference, however as I think many of us have been exposed to so many chigungs and internal martial arts, I'd rather read his descriptions of what is happening internally. I might download the electronic copy.. T

Can you describe some of the main points of this chigung? Why are your balls pulsing? Curious if it is doing some kind of pressure breathing or fascia manipulation..

do you mean the muscle tendon meridians that were outlined in chia's book? i think they are very similar from what I recall. T

I have anatomy trains. Can't say whether it's a 'good' book or not..it depends on your interest. I think the main thrust of this book is that he creates a model for bodyworkers to work with the body. He shows that fascia is organized along certain 'lines' and you can work along those lines. For example, the fascia at the back of the calf is connected to the back of the neck, along a 'train' or 'path' that goes along the back. So once you are aware of this lines, and he has functional ones that appear when moving a certain way, you can find and address structural issues using this framework. In the end, for me, it was cool to become aware of this theory, but the book didn't do anything for me as I'm not becoming a rolfer anytime soon. Probably everything you would want to know can be found on his website or in other discussions about his model. T

http://www.heavensregister.co.uk/home/ stumbled across this one and realized it was extremely interesting..would love to hear comments.

dote!

I saw a japanese guy on TV doing this once...where do you want to go with this thread..

I was up one night philosophising with my born again christian college roommate and we were talking about god. Suddenly it was like there was this presence in the room. I asked him if he felt that and he said yes and got freaked out. I was scared too, but in awe at the same time. It was extremely tangible. I never felt that strong force again, but I get comfort in connecting with god. Recently I decided it would be a good practice to just bask in this presence. However, my monkey mind distracts me. But it's something, coincidentally, I just started to work on. T