quantumdragon

HI Hobo, I am posting here to avoid, hopefully, that guy that just disrespected your experiences in seeking a teacher. In my opinion, no authentic teacher would act in such a way. Xuanming, even though he was quite adamant in the incorrectness of your assessment of MS. Gonet's book, offered something authentic from his own experience. That other guy, hit and run criticism- oh and then so subtly an advertisement link with the disclaimer "they even teach white folk" so to speak. Wow! Doesn't that make you want to pay for more abuse : ) Take a class we'll kick your a$$ : ) I must say, this has to be some kind of male Chinese cultural thing that goes along with martial arts schools. I used to watch kung fu movies when I was a kid. You know the one where one guy at a certain martial arts school is disrespected so a big war breaks out and everyone is fighting over whose school has the best gong. Until I started reading this forum I thought that as make believe stuff. No wonder you feel like all teachers are false. I can sincerely tell you there are authentic teachers. I have one. And you can find one too. Maybe not on Tao bums but good ones are out there. And I would venture to say the would NEVER treat a beginning student with appalling lack of manners as displayed by the poster rubbing salt in your wounds.

What a fascinating book. Although the forms are different in my training the results seem to be the same. This could be the dairy of the results of my practices. I am humbled deeply. Thank you Hobo. I cannot express my gratitude sufficiently. Like you there are things I cannot say about how and what I am taught and who teaches me. I understand your reluctance to do anything but use the texts.

Thank you for you instruction. Do you recommend studying TCM in depth? Are there study materials for the layperson not wanting to become a TCM doctor? You are obviously a great adept. Are there books you would recommend with illustrations? I am a right brained artist type. I cannot seem to understand things unless I first see a picture. Then I can begin to label with words. I am studying the Yijing. After three years it is beginning to make sense. I am so happy you are on this forum. What you have written is very helpful to me. It seems the Universal energies are asking me to step up and use my linear mind more. That is why I am here on this forum seeking the experiences, words and wisdom of others to help me upgrade my vocabulary. the problem I am running into in describing my practice experience is the circulations I am experiencing do not follow exact meridian line as described in the TCM texts I have studied. For example. Lately in my practices I will start my practice with any number of different exercises. As I become more and more relaxed a primary circulations takes over. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes the energy coming in is hot, heavy ( very , very heavy)and descending and contracting. My whole body contracts from the outside moving inward in what feels like a multidimensional spiraling motion. The belt meridian then contracts to the point that my navel touches my life gate curling my body somewhat forward, simultaneously my chin connects to my big toes and beings moving backward and forward sort of kneading the qi like bread rocking like a baby in a cradle the energy between the lower dantien, the jade pillow area , the front of the forehead and the sacrum. My arms may move with the hand, wrist and elbow positions changing to direct the qi. Then the pelvic floor opens and I bend my knees up and down kneading and the energy decedents out fro the pelvic floor to the earth. I may stand with this flow of energy for up to an hour or until it naturally shift. When it returns from the earth it goes straight up the center of my body in front of the spine out the to of my head this energy feels light and cooler but still warm. While this circulation is occurring the energy in the sacrum becomes very hot and starts pumping qi up the du meridian and down the ren the lower dantien then begins to spin like a gyroscope condensing. The pumping action of the sacrum then spreads through my entire body and acupuncture points all over my body begin to heat or cool synchronizing with the pumping feeling at the sacrum and lower dantein. This can go on for a very long time. The colors on my mind screen vary sometimes a Mandela of crimson with swirling gold sometimes a beautiful Caribbean sea blue with gold swirling, other times a static solid white yields to a dark black with white chevrons speckled through. The qi is so strong and palatable I often wonder if my legs are strong enough to hold the weight. Sometimes the strength of it feels like my body might break. But then it all changes and become elastic , the sacrum is more static and the qi is less centralized, it seems to come and go rippling through my muscles and tendons , soaking into the bones. This is not a practice I govern with my conscious mind. It is more of a surrendering to some wisdom greater than my linear intellectual mind. Maybe my intellectual mind cannot make the leap from this attempt to describe to standardized TCM description because I have not read the right books. Any directions or pointer from anyone reading would be greatly appreciated by me.

That looks so beautiful relaxing and lovely. Is the man in the video your teacher? Do you have classes you attend or are you a solo practitioner? Do you teach this form? I am very interested in the poetry of your words describing your practice.

The "event" that prompted my devotion was the first practice of 4 hours. I had never experienced anything like the pure freedom and ecstasy of what is commonly written about as the Xuan state. There are no words to describe the actual feeling of the practice. I have read the poetry about it which alludes to something but what is alluded to can only be experienced. Experiences cannot really be described because every human being is unique. How can energy interactions be the identical in different individuals. This is why I love your translation?. They are beautiful , poignant and broadly worded so that the untrained mind could have a glimpse at something possible. Is your interest in the works you translate purely academic do you practice any form of internal or external martial arts? You must have some kind of connection to this or your work would not be so lovely.

Oh my goodness Hobo the translation of the Fisherman resonated in my ears like beautiful music. For the sake of the purity of my practices I intend I do not come across written material until I have experienced what has been written about. I further intend a particular state has been stabilized to the point where what is read assist the tool of my intellectual mind to find words, symbols and means of communicating conceptualized experiences with other humans. I say this because I feel cannot create an experience for another with words but I have unintentionally create conceptual road block for other students by my use of words. As for me being able to unlock anything I want , I would answer you are more confident in my abilities than I am ! : ) I am a simple woman with a singular purpose living the Way to the best of my current ability. This is why I " practice or bath daily". My experience of Bathing is allowing the Original Spirit and the associated Universal energies to cleanse/ transform the chemical make up of my body memories from this life, from my ancestors, my cultural indoctrination etc. and other lives, so that in awareness I realize how to be in harmony with eternal freedom. Daily ( each minute really) I am aware of the multitude of disharmonious states in my body/mind(s). I think I understand that the gate you reference is not a clock nor does it refer to time. I have to fall back on my experience. When I was a beginning practitioner of Yi Ren Qigong I did need to count, I needed to practice at certain times of the day to use self acupuncture TCM theory to create a change or desired state. But then my teacher told me to practice the microcosmic orbit with certain mudras for 180 revolutions. This created a dilemma for me because I kept loosing track of the count. Instead I counted the approximate amount of time it would take to complete the task. At that time it took about 4 hours to do 180 circulations ( now 1 circulation may take 4 hours). What happened for me was not what I expected. I had let go of my linear mind by committing to just doing the practice without worrying about the count or the form or anything else. on that day I entered the state of Xuan for the first time. For two months I did a standing practice of one exercise for 4- 7 hours per day. My realization was, the counting is to occupy the linear( so it will not interfere) mind while the real Alchemy starts gaining traction. What freedom to be in eternity and here on earth!. Now as a more seasoned practitioner I enter and exit local and non local time at will by surrendering to a greater awareness I quiet the noise of the human dust washing my body with the intelligence of the refined energy of the Original Spirit. My personality is still here and problematic at times but what a great journey this is. The real questions started coming after that exercise, which mind is in control and running the "show" in my life? Is it the mind of the spleen? Am I fighting or arguing? Is it the mind of my Liver? Am I angry or aggressive? And so on. If I am seeing the negative emotions I know I need to head to practice and bath some more. My purpose in talking to you Hobo is to connect with your ( in my opinion) Yang brilliance. And I share my Yin practice. Then we both benefit from one another's gifts. In that not what community is? Have a great night.

Hi Hobo. I have been following this post. Your intellectual capacity is beyond compare. The depth of your intellectual " data" bank of words, terms and concepts leave me in awe. I will be paying attention to your commentary to glean vocabulary to describe my personal practices. Your Chinese cultural knowledge is a great support to me. I have no such resource to fall back on. I really appreciated you explaining the common usage of "gate(s)" in Chinese culture. I would have never in a million years come across this reference. I am fascinated by your limerick about Master Lu. Is it a simple fun jingle or does it have an esoteric meaning my western mind cannot unlock? Thank you in advance if you decide I am worthy of your assistance in understanding.

I have been studying Jill Gonet's book for about one year. It is an extraordinary work I relate to from the perspective of my person experiences in practicing Internal Alchemy. I cannot speak to scholarly elucidations on the subject of Taming the Dragon in Ms. Gonet's translated Poem. I have been practicing a system Internal Alchemy , for about 2.5 years. For me taming the dragon was not taming in the literal sense at all. It felt like the water dragon of the deep ocean in my human body with all of its reproductive earthly human mandate-produce/procreate or die trying was gently introduced to another type of dragon from the heavenly oceans. Over the course of many classes and hours of personal practice this Yin earthly ocean dragon mated with the Yang heavenly ocean dragon. The female water dragon fulfilled her mandate to procreate and the Male winged heavenly Dragon fulfilled his mandate to assist the earth immortal Yin dragon to have a child. Together they raise this child dragon hybrid that lives in heaven and on earth simultaneously. . Since both Dragon are immortal and what is born is immortal. To address Hobo comment on slaying the dragon it does not feel like slaying is the right term. It feels like Ultimate Yin and Ultimate Yang become good parents to this immortal living child inside my body , feeding, caring and fostering with discipline and limitless wisdom their creation. I see why Ms. Gonet used taming to describe this union. For the untrained mind taming is a clue to unlock, in my opinion for what it is worth, the western minds indoctrination. I would describe it more as the great loving fulfilment of the original purpose ( In western alchemy this is called the Hieros Gamos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieros_gamos ) of the reproductive system which is not " tamed" ( in the western ideation of dominate) exactly, a better word from my experience would be quieted by fulfilling the dragon like (human) reptilian minds impulsive/compulsive mandate with authentic spiritual purpose giving birth to the authentic spirit. My comments here speak to only a nanoparticle of the totality of my experience of the Yin and Yang "matings" and resulting transformations from practicing Internal Alchemy . This is a gross simplification of a rigorous process of nearly 2000 hours of personal practice and around 300 hours of classroom training with Dr. Sun. The description above is based solely on my personal experience I honestly do not know the words from the Chinese Cultural or Mythological perspective. I am left with a humble attempt to make up the vocabulary based on my experiences during practicing . I claim no accuracy as to the use of the above metaphoric terminology from any historical or modern texts.

Hello I am a Qigong practitioner. I have many interest, some of which are listed in the tags to this post. I am very happy to be on Tao Bums website. I have been reading posts here for about three and one half years searching for like minded people to have conversations with related to experiences practicing qigong. I have had many wonderful experiences practicing. I am looking forward to many joyous exchanges with members of this forum.