thaddeus

I noticed that too..and I meant to point that out before..Rumi wrote about how if you want something, create a 'need' and it's so true. Back to the ferrari example, big difference between wanting and needing. In my opinion, 'need' creates a vacuum that is naturally filled (again back to the tao and nature) where as a want is like adding to a filled cup. anyway, don't want to sound a like a know it all..lol, but I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about this stuff and analyzing it. T

I wanted to respond to this and to Harry's general questions.. First, Yoda..yeah, I read and experimented alot and the abraham stuff seems to be so logical. It is certainly odd to read 'channeled' material...(i'm extremely skeptical by nature) but this stuff rings so true. Anyway, back to Mike's example..Mike, this example (true or not) is rife with belief systems and it affects one's circumstances whether they are conscious of it or not..For example, a 16 y/o boy wanting a ferrari is somehow 'bad' and the universe will punish him for his greediness. The example also shows that visualizing is a 'short cut' which is bad because everyone needs to work hard and long for what they get. So Harry, this answers your question about resistance. If someone resonates with the above story and they spend time visualizing something for themselves, it can never work. In someone else's belief system, they don't believe the universe is going to harm you and let you lay in a pool of blood because you wanted something really bad. Mike, not picking on you, just using the story to illustrate how deeply ingrained our belief systems are..it's like reading the ingredients on boxes looking for transfats--it's often hidden and under our noses without being really aware of it. So Harry, the best way to reduce resistance (and this I learned from the A/H material) is to soften the belief. It's hard to take up a new belief. So if you do believe that people need to work hard and long to get what they want, you can start to 'soften' that belief by thinking of ways that people can get what they want by not working hard and still be good people. Maybe they saved someone's life and they got a reward, or perhaps they discovered a unique skill. So you can change the belief a little to 'sometimes people can get what they want by not working hard and long' and then you start to get in more alignment with your desires. You asked for examples..one month I won $100 three times using those scratch off tickets. Another time I spent about 2 weeks visualizng $2500 on a scratch off game and won it. It stopped working when I got over confident and tried to 'will' myself to win more and told all my friends about it. Relationships are very easy to manifest. Just watch out because with relationships, the manifesting never stops and you often start to 'intend' things you don't want based on your personal issues. This is behind a lot of the 'gee, I thought you were my soulmate, but I was wrong' experiences. Some stuff is extremely personal, but I had enough experiences to trust this process. Btw, if you are christian, jesus talked about manifestation constantly..i can post some examples. I dn't belong to any religion, per se, just more familiar with that context. Remember what I said before and don't get crazy starting to visualize specifics situation..like if you start to visualize a specific situation, it might not work. Remember we don't want to be unbearable. Intent is an ocean and we need to ride it, not direct it according to our whims (my insight). anyway..let me know what you think.. T

>>I am personally in an in-between state regarding belief in my full manifestation capabilities and forming reality by intent and the believe in being bound to certain Karmic principles & influences from my past (including past lives)...<< Me too. Karma seems to be extremely complex. How much influence Karma has based on intention and vice versa is a good mind bender. So, yeah. >>lets create the following scenere: people who speak about manifestation speak about things like: "you want a Ferrari... so keep the cear picture of a Ferrari in your mind... get into your inner universe and create it there and you will find things materializing in the world"... ... See. I'd pretty much enjoy my bank account to be cleared... I do have my intent set upon it... but unfortunately money is not manifesting just that easy... >> This is the common idea regarding manifestation. And obviously it doesn't really work all the time. It's not like that star trek episode where everyone's thoughts materialized. To quote Don Juan from the Castaneda works, we would become 'unbearable' if we were to manifest everything we wanted on a whim like that. But let me rephrase that..we could if there was no resistance to it. Resistance comes in the form of your world view, your beliefs, your attitudes, your 'assemblage point'. So, Harry, you might see and feel your bank account cleared, but how do you really feel about that? This is the tricky part. See, you might spend a few minutes intending your bank account. Then an hour later, talking to a friend you might say, 'hey joe, if you really want something you have to work for it.' or 'joe, nothing comes easy out there, you gotta bust your ass to be successfull.' or you might have a belief that people who have money probably cheated their way to it. There is an old saying 'behind every great fortune, there is a great crime'. So if you believe this, your parents and friend believe this, you are really intending this, not the 'cleared bank account'. When you intend the bank account, but your day to day beliefs are contrary, then you can see why nothing happens. You have to be in alignment with your intentions. It's alot like the 6 harmonies of internal arts..heart and mind, etc. Abraham-hicks talks about the 'emotional guidance system'. When you are intending, check your feelings, if you feel really great and it feels like you have it...then you are in alignment. If you have some nagging feelings, some doubt, then start running through your attitudes towards it. You could even use a friend to help point out your resistance to getting what you want. ok gotta go for now.. T

I think that is what is really behind the traditions of rain dancing. Of course it has nothing at all to do with the dance choreography. It's the intention behind the actions. Very cool. T

Hi Harry, I'll play the part of the monk who carried the pretty girl across the stream and just drop this. There's alot more cool stuff to talk about. Thanks for asking about my mom...in a nutshell, she scared the crap out of me by some of the stuff I personally witnessed. Until I got to grow older and see it all differently. Sorry to be obtuse, but it's a complicated subject and one more for the give and take of a conversation over a beer. Manifesting..we should start a new thread. When you say you haven't had the time to 'do' the practices that gives me a clue as to what is going on. I find manifesting to be very taoist. You are already 'doing it'. Can you tell me what your sources of information are on this topic? I think the clearest one I found was from the abraham-hicks material, but I've been exposed to alot of different ideas and approaches. But basically, you are already manifesting your intentions. So there is nothing to 'do'. You only need to become aware of what it is you are intending. Then the next step is to reduce the resistance. So manifesting is really about doing less, not more. It's about getting rid of the resistance to having what you intend come into your life. The best thing to do is to test this out first. Then you'll know how it works.. Intend something, drop all desire to force or coerce the 'how', and watch what happens. You can use your emotions to guage how you are doing. When you feel good about your intention, trust that things are coming. If you feel bad, then you have to find the resistance. If you want, we can have some give and take to perhaps find out what that resistance is. Make sense? T

Thank you for calling me a loser. The Tao is about daily loss. But seriously, you are one freaking maniac dude! Try to hold it together. A part of me wants to engage further in this at this level, but at the same time, I dunno, just don't feel like it. So whatever. You brought up my mom. That was an interesting point about the take away stuff. I'll think about that and see if that was my intention--to punish you. I'm not so quick to agree, but I'll think about it--thanks for the insight. But back to my mom. She was a shaman. I don't recall her playing take away games with me as a child. And you're wrong about the sharing part, being a middle child, my middle name was sharing. My mom died recently. But we communicate daily. We are closer now actually. So why I am talking about my personal life..just to show you I am a person too, you really don't know anything about me. And I have lots to share. For example, my comments about not living in a poverty consciousness. I was hoping someone would call me on it. What does that mean? It means I've tapped into the source and I know I can manifest whatever I need. I can talk at length about that with anyone who cares to hear it. I didn't attack Li Jiong personally. I don't know anything about him. My comments were directed at his behavior and his comments. I'm here to discuss techniques, philosophies, points of view, opinions. I'm not here to psycho babble anyone or provide unsolicited therapy or to personally insult people. Li Jiong, you say you don't want to insult me but I am not welcome to read your translation. No insult is taken. But can you please consider why you need to be such a guardian and what makes you react this way. This knowledge you are guarding is already here. You can't hold it back or give it away. This much I know. So everyone, I love the tao. This we all have in common. I consider all of you my friends. I don't work with people and I don't meet people often that understand the stuff we talk about casually. So I appreciate our interactions, the good and bad because it's something rare and special to me. I hope you can see that. T

Yawn...

Funny, I was going to buy your book...support a fellow NYer and seeker.. "was" I see you're in good company...maybe you can hawk the book on your website too.. T

The issue for me is not 81 dollars. I make 81 dollars in about 45 minutes in my job. I can drop 81 dollars at lunch. It's no big deal for me. I don't live in a poverty consciousness. My problem here is not about poor english or high prices, or being offended by words or realness vs. fakeness. The problem I see is someone joining here and immediately trying to sell something and get followers under the guise of 'discussion' and 'just looking for commentary'. This is what is really behind all the 'red flag' comments. To divert this issue into one of 'how much are the secrets worth' is avoiding the big pink elephant in the living room. It's just not ethical. And then the comments about people who don't pay the money are 'unworthy' just appalled me. I appreciate it takes many hours to translate a 1000 page book. Great, then put an advertisement above along with the 'tao of youth' and the 'radiant health taichi dvd'. My two cents however is that if it takes so much hard work and toil to translate the works, I don't really want to read them. The tao is an 'easy' path..a labor of love. T

Read Chapter 3 of the Tao Te Ching. I'll copy one of the many translations of this divine work: 3 If you overesteem great men, people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal. The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think that they know. Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place. T

This is great! I think we should all do this...let's start charging each other to read our posts. For example, say I come up with a great meridian exercise. I can charge you say $21 to read it and provide some commentary. But I'll go one step further and provide a money back guarantee. So if you don't find the exercise helpful, I'll return the money. But only if you are divine, because obviously you won't benefit from my deep spiritual insights. In that case you don't deserve to read it, but I'll keep your $21 anyway in the best interests of this secret knowledge.. cool! T

81 dollars to read a part of your translation for commentary is a lot to ask for don't you think? My two cents.. T

I'd have to agree with you on most of your comments. The film was a complete mess, but at the same time it's a milestone in that it is raising awareness of these topics in the public domain. So it is serving a purpose. I'm a bit disturbed to hear the people involved in the film are followers of JZ Knight and her Ramtha character. She's been exposed as a fraud, in fact there was a 60 minutes type special on her years back. I didn't understand the significance of that character in the film, and 'it' didn't really contribute anything of importance. I'm curious why you say we don't create reality to the extent mentioned in the film. What are you basing that on? Just asking.. T

Maybe it's just me..but I would love to read up on and study taoist material that did NOT come from or is associated with Mantak Chia. Anybody? Anything? Thaddeus

One common theme I've seen in all health related activities for the organs is the use of pressure. I was told by one high level teacher that the exhale (in a reverse breath) is healthy for the lungs because of the relaxation of the chest which compresses the lung. I've noticed many chigungs work with pressure on an organ and the breath. Also in yoga if you do modified transition to cobra pose with your butt up in the air and your chest compressing the ground, it's supposed to be great for the lungs. fwiw, T

Hi Trunk, can you elaborate a little on what specific effects you are noticing from it? Thanks, T

This is very interesting to me, can you please state the source? Thanks! T

It's really interesting when I read a post on something that's been on my mind lately. And this is exactly what I was thinking. In fact, I was raving about theanine because the first three days I took it, I felt as if my mind was clear as a bell and I was thinking fast, cracking amazing jokes and oneliners..and then...bam, it stopped. I don't feel a thing when I take it. Now my natural urge would have been to take more theanine, but this time I resisted and started to examine exactly what you are talking about right now. I'm exactly the same way, I'll rave about an herb, vitamin or formula, even get my friends and family to buy it (i seem to be very influential in this regard) and then poof, the effect disappears in a very short time. So far in my thinking process I'm starting to strongly believe that it is largely due to a placebo effect. I'll go out on a limb and state that when it comes to human beings, *no medicine* will work unless the 'patient' believes it will. So, if you really believe a certain substance will have a certain effect, our initial enthusiasm amplifies that effect. Alot of us here have a certain open mindedness that allows us to experience this effect. I have alot more to explain on this, but today is crazy. I've been thinking about it alot. The second angle on this is that i've learned the body chemistry operates on a feedback mechanism. For example, if one hormone goes to high, another will kick in to lower it. We have problems when the feedback mechanism stops working (overwhelmingly due to stress, genetics, or some kind of outside problem). I think these substances manipulate the feedback mechansim, but the body is smart, it will adjust shortly to make things come back to normal. For example, a tonic that makes you produce more testosterone, *should* in the long run force you to produce less to comabt the extra LH (for example, maybe Prolactin will go up), so as Lao Tzu pointed out anything to extreme will produce it's opposite..and that's why I love the Tao...it never fails.. T

I have this book and will take another look. I remember waiting anxiously for it and being pretty disappointed with the *lack* of detail. But it was awhile ago, and maybe I can see more stuff in it now..was there anything in particular that 'wowed' you? T

All, having a really interesting experience taking a few herbal testosterone boosters. Long Jack is one..what are your thoughts on this type of stuff..talk about chi!!! omg.. T

I think that's true to some extent if you sublimate your sex drive..more details to follow.. T

Where did you hear the part about cod liver oil and testosterone? thanks, T I'm wondering if these products are actually replacing the lost jing faster or is it something that can eventually lead to some kind of burnout...because, yeah, being a professional athlete and porn star feels pretty good..

Trunk, I think you're on to something. I'm not ready to write down all my thoughts on this, but I have some evidence to prove, both factually and just in logical terms, that plain old retention without an accompanying program is detrimental. An easy way to understand this is, for example, say you stop eating. Your body will start to shut down the metabolism. Same with sex. If you stop ejaculating, your body will start to shut you down. Basically in our prehistoric biology, it means you are not worthy of a mate, since you are obviously not getting any or there is some reason why you are not getting any and you should be terminated. I have reason to believe that unmanaged retention will lead a man to an early andropause. Extra ejaculation should mean you are an alpha male and your body should respond appropriately with the *right* support. Right support meaning diet, rest and all the other advantages afforded to the alpha male so he can stay on top. Now what this managed program of retention is would be the golden key. I have some ideas that I'm experimenting with, but I think you might be on to some as well. T

Inspired by the discussions in the standing thread, I started playing around with standing and waiting for my arms to rise on their own. Has anyone seriously played with this stuff? It seems to be guided by intention and breath..I'm going to try to do the form like this..gives new insight into using chi.. T

Starting a new thread based on comments in the standing thread about discipleship. I wouldn't be so quick to assume discipleship is entitling one to any special instruction. I know a few 'disciples' and they don't seem to be getting anything great. I can respect it as a tradition, but look at it logically. Out of all the really great masters, which ones are attributing their greatness to a disciple relationship with their 'master'? Unfortunately, what i've seen regarding discipleship, it's more about exploitation, control, jealousy and damn near extortion sometimes. Face it, if you're under someone's wings, you will always be second best and never as good as the original. Look at Ueshiba, Yang Cheng Fu, Wang Zhang Xai, etc. etc. Lineages are ok, but by definition, they have to get watered down through time. T