thaddeus

Thanks Sean, always a pleasure to read your insights.. I didn't take it as a diss, in fact I whole heartedly agree in the end you just have the heart centered approach to guide you. I am against 'masters' figuring stuff out and leading at the same time. I think they mislead people and hurt them (with incomplete and misinformation). They hurt alot by their greed and ego needs. The alleged plagiarism of the Pranic Healing stuff disturbs me quite a bit. Is Chia simply sharing or is he ruthlessly building wealth at all costs.. I'm beginning to think there are no 'teachers' but that everything informs us. We just need to be open and listen..but that's a whole 'nuther thread. thaddeus

If you can ask him what exactly and how (logistically) he studied with Castaneda that would be really cool. If you know anything about Castaneda, anyone claiming to even know him personally, much less training with him as a brujo, would be quite extraordinary!

Thanks..I see where you are coming from. A real concern is 20 years can go by and one is still trying stuff out..which is fine for some. Another point that wasn't really brought out in my response was..let's use chi nei tsang for example. Which came first..Did Chia learn this and teach it to Gilles Martin or did Gilles just partner with Chia and now it's passed off as part of Chia's orginal tutelage. Same with Taichi, how much of the inner structure book and curriculum is really stewart? It takes years of dedicated practice to learn taichi.. So to your point about lineage, for me personally I kinda want to know where this stuff came from. Using taichi for example, do you want to learn Stewart's take on it or something passing on from taoist hermits through chia..see what I mean? Thaddeus

What's with the 'study with the world's best masters, including Carlos Castaneda' all about? That's right up front on the web page. Don't mean to throw off your hearty endoresement, but statements like that pique my curioisty...and red flags.. Thaddeus

Thanks for this..was browsing the yiquando stuff..what are your thoughts on it? thaddeus

good question! lol..albeit the obvious one. Basically, I just have my doubts and I haven't experienced anything or have been impressed by anyone who's studied with him. And, everytime I find a book or website that talks about the physical practices, when I read further, it seems I find out it's a student of Chia. I'm also a bit skeptical about his "co-writers" and what their intentions are. It would be a great disservice for someone to pass off their own ideas as something coming from a taoist lineage. I find it a little hard to believe that one man can cover so much on his own..for example, taichi chuan, chi nei tsang, iron crotch stuff, taoist meditation, dreamwork, tao yin...etc. etc...each a discipline in and of itself that takes a lifetime to master and he's pumping this material out...all with 'co-writers' i might add. And it's also a bit curious to me how the material can jump on the bandwagon of current thoughts..like the second brain, etc. I'm sorry if this offends anyone who is personally attached to the material. It's just how I see it. I agree with a previous poster, the Hua Ching Ni stuff is extremely scant on useable information even though he writes volumes and volumes. So....lol aren't you glad you asked..

Though I haven't seen it specifically written anywhere, my take on the pilates I've taken so far is that the source of movement for pilates exercise is integrated closely with the perineum. 'Navel to spine' activates it.

Couldn't agree more. I find more depth in my yoga practice everyday. It's true that if you keep practicing, the lessons just come to you. I can probably study the 'simple' 3 part breath forever as it continuously reveals it's secrets. Also, the bandhas can get more and more refined and deep in regards to their secrets. thaddeus another good thing about yoga practice is having your hands on the floor. You can really understand moving *using* the breath as opposed to 'coordinated' with the breath. Your breath can move you. This is harder to get in something like taichi practice because most people don't get moving the body using the legs the kwa. In that case the breath is pushing down into the feet and moving the body. Yoga makes it much more obvious, then you can use that knowledge in other systems. fwiw, thaddeus

thanks for the responses. I find myself really uninterested in fantastic looking women that are 'energetically out of tune'.

Hey there, I've found myself taking quite a bit of supplements. Lately I've been taking the Lysine/C regimine recommended by linus pauling to clear out your arteries. I feel pretty good on it too. Averaging about 8gms of C and 3-4 of lysine. Take a mixed antioxidant formula and lots of fish oil. Currently considering a testosterone/estrogen inhibiting formula. Shou wu Ji drink. Why are you taking the beta carotene? And are you taking the cod liver oil because of the recommendation on nyctaoist.com? thaddeus

What does opening mean to you..as in 'opening the orbit' or opening the dantian? Thaddeus

you're welcome..when it happened to me, i thought the same thing and actually lived with it for a few days and it was really irking me...i found it by accident..

did you click on 'outline' by mistake? that happened to me and i didn't like the format. thaddeus

All great thoughts to ponder further. I'm also reminded now of, say using yoga for example, practitioners are urged to follow a 'good life'. If you think about it, if you lie, steal and do other 'bad' things, you can't really relax and stretch and loosen your fascia. I'm reminded of a guy I work with who everybody knew as extremely 'jumpy'. After getting to know him, I realized he was one sneaky bastard who was lying and cheating everyone around him. He'll never relax, in fact, he walks like he's made of wood. Actually I don't believe it's the actions per se, but what you believe about them. If you believe stealing is bad and you do it, it's got to have adverse effects on your body. I wonder if buddha's 'middle path' worked for him because he actually experienced both extremes. Maybe middle path means nothing to a rank beginner. Middle must be relative..anyway, I digress a bit. I'm wondering if when these masters speak of love, it's not necessarily for altruistic or spiritual reasons, but perhaps a more basic physical way to open the body... anyway, cool stuff to think about..keep the insights coming.. thaddeus

I'm wondering if there is a fascia element at play. For example to open the orbit means there are no fascial restrictions along that path. This is accomplished through proper posture and whole body breathing that in effect 'stretches' the orbits and produces electricity through the piezoelectric mechanism. Produces the same effect as acupuncture (if you believe in the needle as antennae theory). Fascial restrictions can be caused by emotional closing so that's why I think the spiritual cleansing/meditating/etc. can 'open' things. ? thaddeus

Hi Cameron, Did you ever think of setting up a blog where you would discuss these dream matches and possible outcomes? Have your friend pay for advertising on it and start getting other schools to do the same..that would be cool and could lead to things. Thaddeus

I have to say their credibility is questioned straight off when they said the physician's desk reference lists semen is among the best cures for a sore throat. Harry, do you have a PDR laying around and can verify? A google search turns up nothing. It may be true, due to the zinc content or some other reason, but does the PDR really state that. thaddeus

Kinda off topic, but a Jamaican version of natural viagra is to drink guinness with a raw egg in there..can top off with some nutmeg and cinnamon..I'm guessing there must be a guinness/nitric oxide connection if it speeds wound healing too. Thad

B6 is supposed to produce vivid dreams according to durk pearson. In my experience it hasn't helped much with lucid dreaming. I've had success using melatonin to induce a lucid dreams from the beginning of the night, but most come after a full night sleep. I believe in castaneda's theory that dreaming ability is based on your sexual energy. When I was in college I had lucid dreams alot but I was able to always sleep late. Now I'm sleep deprived, I never get to sleep in so I rarely have them. Lucid dreaming is simply amazing. I never looked at the Winn dream practice stuff. I would like to talk about this stuff as I don't know anyone who is into it. Thaddeus

Hi all, I've asked this question before in a different way regarding replenishing jing after sexual or other stressfull activities. But I guess another way to ask this question is 'have you found any strategies to reduce the refractory time?' For me I can't quite find that combination of sleep/food/breathing/supplements that seems to nail it (no pun intended). I also noticed after an extended session of bedroom battle, after a while i feel I can no longer control it. Other than take a break for an hour or so, has anyone found a way to reduce the time to climax after doing the updraws for a couple hours? Thaddeus

If you don't mind my answering, Huang Jing is also called solomon seal. Supposed to be a restorative, 'scholar warrior' mentions making a tonic wine out of it. Rou Chong Rong is also called 'cistanches'. Ron Teeguarden pointed out (and I verified it), it's probably the common denominator ingredient in all ancient chinese schlong enlargement herbal formulas. I think it works on the plumbing similar to V*iagra. Kidney tonic. But not known as a libido enhancer. I'll try out the jing trilogy and report back results. thaddeus

Just throwing this out..i was really inspired by Plato's article. btw, being new here, what name does he post under? Anyway, I liked the idea of using breath to uncrinkle the connective tissue. Helps me consolidate some ideas from my yoga and taiji practice. But at the same time, I realized that doing a exercise for taoist purposes *must* be agains the 'way'. My reasoning is simple, there is no disputing that the 'sage accomplishes everything by doing nothing'. *Doing* exercises like 10x a day, everyday, ultimately is a doing. I kinda like the idea, using the breathing exercise as an example, of an awareness of what the breath can be doing when we inhale and exhale. So instead of a "practice" per se, why not just be aware of uncrinkling fascia as we go about our daily activities. This way we can accomplish by not doing. Comments? Thaddeus

What is the theory behind warrior wellness and the relaxation you're getting in the shoulder..for example, it circular movement, static stretching, etc.?? Does it involve the mind in any way? THanks, Thaddeus