Earl Grey

I am under the belief that we have both good and bad days and this is one of the few bad days we've seen for flowing hands here. Even the ascended masters like Jesus got angry and blew up or the goddesses like Chamundi are wrathful against those sincere adherents who stand in the way of awakening. There is fun but I'm also here out of duty to my teachers who often get mentioned here. I'm only responding because you quoted me, but if you want to carry this further, message me privately or go to my PPJ as I'm done with this thread.

As your post is viewable in web searches as opposed to other sections of the forum, you may want to have others just PM you directly here and give them your e-mail from there. You are opening yourself to spam from bots as this is searchable in Google and other web search engines.

One of the biggest frustrations I have about this forum and the anonymous nature of the Internet is that it also takes something very difficult to fundamentally measure fairly rather than objectively or equally, which is the esoteric path. I will actually be referencing a few groups here including our favorite WMP friends and am trying to speak as respectfully as possible with the full disclosure that I am making zero attacks on anyone mentioned here. To put it simply, none of us for the most part know each other's complexities as human beings, even divorced of our practices and our participation here. What we especially don't know about is the veracity or legitimacy of someone's practice, which can vary with topics outright decrying Mantak Chia and Michael Winn as frauds and weak or unhealthy practices versus people who are very happy with the results. What is more important is the sincerity of each practitioner, and even then, it's hard to verify, because besides generational, national cultural, political, and linguistic barriers such as many who don't speak English as their first language here, we also have the further limiting factor that is people's ability to communicate in writing their depth of understanding, let alone the difficulties even I as a writer and professional struggle with in conveying my points. By the logical positivist school of thinking, we are all failures in our ability to communicate effectively. By my own humanity, that failure is what makes us closer to one another. The administration here describes this as a café-like atmosphere where decorum and etiquette are determined by them, but when you mix spiritual and esoteric practices, it becomes more of a pub in that regard since these practices affect our perceptions and relationship with the veils of the myriad of realities we pass through, but more apparently, it stirs egos, both our own and others. And while in an actual physical establishment where people will gravitate towards others who share similar interests and can ignore the others who clash with them, the problem with the nature of an Internet forum is that these conversations, unless edited, hidden, or deleted, stay here forever and people are judged by those posts, which are also impacted by the above complexities I've mentioned with language, age, culture, and such. I'm not ashamed of my posts, but I am also not proud of a few of them over the years, and I went from being an idealistic and curious individual in 2015 to someone more settled into my path, suffice to say I am more of a journeyman and an adept in 2019 rather than a recently-elevated senior apprentice then. And as a human being, I of course have my moments and struggles. What I have found helpful was talking to people in private and even offline, especially when I gave free or voluntary donation-based Akashic readings here and got to know many individuals on video conference or phone calls, and even meeting up in person with some. It helps to hear the tone, to know someone as a person, an individual, and a human, and find out how they sound and look and their little tics and quirks are far different from their ability to express themselves in writing, and likewise, people don't see us, they assemble us through the filter of their own projections as we do to them. In short: we have both hands and feet tied to the chair, our mouths gagged, eyes blindfolded, ears plugged, and are judged by our ability to understand Shakespeare, Sartre, and Solzhenitsyn in Sanskrit and communicate it in a translation into Esperanto while using only morse code to others, and the consequences of this stay with us for a long time because they only know what we've said and do not how we look or feel, nor do they know anything about us. The metrics by which people measure their own practice and others is not a constant in this forum. Flowing Hands is someone that could be a fraud or a holy man and nobody knows without knowing him or being part of the same school. By the metrics of my own lineages, I give him my respect because I can sense it in him and in GSMaster, while those same metrics are the ones that make me grateful for Flowing Hands informing us of new developments from Tin Yat Dao and advising caution. By those same metrics I personally have, I may not agree with the deviations from traditional transmission of the WMP group, but I can empathize with them even if I can't agree with them since their metric is not mine and my metric is not theirs, and still be friendly with them so long as we understand that we aren't converting each other the same way a Jew and a Buddhist talking about their different views doesn't have to be about burning synagogues and temples but about understanding why they believe what they believe and don't necessarily agree with your views. (Briefly, I offer apologies to any of you members of that group reading this because I only say WMP since that's the common recognized title for you as they separate you from actual and current students of JC's lineage). As a result of the lack of consistent metrics to measure and verify practices or recognize authority in others and their practices, we can't really help but be agnostic about everything, even if the actual masters people revere were to post in this forum. It already happens as I know even Sifu Terry Dunn of the Flying Phoenix thread is so busy that I've been asked to help manage that thread as his student. The problem with the above as a representative of Terry Dunn is that when an incident occurs that his own students understand what is wrong (trolling our thread, insulting Sifu Terry, and defending a scammer), those on the outside and not in the know have indeed construed their own version of events and I have endured their insults, including the most amusing one when someone said "My flow is better than yours". It's an opinion and not the most endearing thing to hear (to say the least), but it's also an uninformed opinion because it has more to do with that individual looking through the lens of their practice, their values, and their ignorance of the internal situation in our own corner of the café (which will not be available to see as most of the offending posts have been edited out), as well as the emphasis on the overall forum's view of fairness, which again is not consistent even amongst mods as it is to their own discretion with again their own human fallibilities. This thread has gone from being a public service announcement to stern warning on civility and now the questioning of legitimacy and authority or qualifications of individuals like Flowing Hands and another exhausting chapter of the battle between the mods and the individuals over what is proper, and unfortunately, even if I agree with Flowing Hands, we're in their territory and it's a lost cause since their priority is to give everyone an equal opportunity to speak and have themselves protected within reason. It is one thing to be non-judging, but the problem here is people are also being non-discerning in an effort to appear non-judging. A political example here (and again, apologies to those who fall into the partisan divide, particularly Americans): in the vein of John Locke, I don't agree with someone's opinion, but I will fight for their right to speak it, so when someone in Berkeley says something in the vein of white nationalism and calling dark-skinned individuals like me part of the problem of the eroding identity of America, I consider why he says that even if I am biting my tongue already and know that he may not view me fairly because of his bias, but I win because I have heard and considered him and done my own investigation through both dialogue with him and research about his views. I lose if I am the Progressive idiot who punches him in the face because even if his views are alarmingly bigoted, I feed the bigotry by resorting to violence. (Disclaimer: I am a Progressive-leaning political Moderate, but find both parties disappointing). So in order to protect people's speaking privilege here, mods step in before they see someone potentially being punched in the face or what they see as a perceived threat of a punch, and I leave it to your imagination to figure out how that translates to online communication. Whether you are actually going to proceed to punch them in the face and if that is actually your intent are two entirely different things, again subject to debate and what they see. I apologize to everyone for this long-winded post and hope my view has offered some insights. I am uninterested in participating any further on this thread because Flowing Hands has already made his point, the mods have made theirs, the new direction of this thread is a repeat of something else I have already experienced, and I have spoken my piece on this as an individual member. In the words of Rodney King: "Can we just get along?"

This is a gift to ALL practitioners of iron shirt according to him and his successor: DO NOT HIT USING YOUR KNUCKLES ON YOUR FLESH. Just use your palms. Those who do this variation of iron shirt using the body tapping version will understand, those who do the internal version using breathing and mind won't need to worry at all (I do both). He wants everyone to know because the world could lose true gems of individuals who don't know this simple mistake cost the martial world his life.

One view is seeing it like nutrition and medicine: some may prescribe and tell us that “this medication has side effects worse than the issue it treats so avoid it” or others say that “this soul food won’t help you get what you need to be fulfilled”. I could know what’s good for me but not necessarily know what’s bad for me until someone points it out. Example is the variation of iron shirt taught in our school, our late teacher as I’ve mentioned in another thread died because he changed it a bit only to realize he had no need to change it as it can cause bone cancer. So in other words, we can talk about even within a system why something is good without talking about a technique or individual for another, but we also need to discuss what is bad in order to protect ourselves from harm.

I empathize with you a lot, @flowing hands. I had my own frustration last year and left for a while because of it but have made my peace accepting that some people choose what may not be the golden path and highest dharma from an outsider’s perspective (whether informed and accurate or not) but believe that it is actually their shining path. I won’t sass or defend the administration here, but I will say that as guests here, we have to grit our teeth because as described earlier, it’s a cafe-like atmosphere and online, even if it’s apparent from my own training I see your skill in your values and understanding, the Internet knocks everyone down to the same level because it’s hard to verify (or perhaps more accurately, it knocks others up because of the smoke and mirrors that makes everyone a self-appointed expert or authority). I made my points in a couple threads that I won’t bother mentioning and had similar problems as this one, but now I just let Tao sort it out because those who know and understand and listen messaged me privately or understood without publicly commenting or liking my arguments. And in spite of my disappointment with the admin and their decisions, they made a point to come back to me later to show that outside of forum rules and their leadership roles here, as individuals and human beings, they understand. It’s hard to compartmentalize and still show you care when duty and personal relationships come into contact with differences in values, language, cultural and communication styles, and personal training. I’d actually be happy if I had an opportunity to host group webinars here to remind everyone that the rules aren’t perfect but as humans, some semblance of order knowing those aforementioned complexities of culture and values along with training and experiences all make it hard to manage here. But most people are busy and also are constrained by timezones and Internet quality, some don’t know how much value they would recognize in it even though this webinar is useful even for people who don’t use online forums as it’s based on two books I recommend for others: “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind” by Hofstede, and “Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds” by Pollock and Van Reken. Can’t save everyone because some people need to learn based on their own soul journey as painful as it is for those of us who are Aware, capital A. We can discuss more via PM or a Skype or Zoom meeting if you like.

It is becoming more difficult to be a hermit and sages need to walk amongst the unaware and the fakes and pretenders and the self-elevated. I have witnessed the loss of the few great members here and the rise of pretenders and pettiness with absolutely no uncertainty. I even left for a while but returned because I have a duty I was appointed for.

Yep all in tune. One practice I do is sleeping qigong and I run into a lot of familiar faces. I actually have developed an opinion now based on things similar to your earlier experiences and limit my communication to a few topics and the same individuals due to sensitivity from practice in that form and accumulation of prior years and experience with my older forms.

I have had dreams of forum members too before, including those I don’t have any interactions with at all. Could be crossed connections energetically considering we put a lot of our time and essence by nature of our individual practices and participation in this forum. Anyone’s guess is as good as mine as to why and your own guess as to what it means.

There is too much grounding "energy" because it creates imbalance. This is also an incorrect statement about how the dantian works with "falling from the dantian in a surrender into the earth". The energy is spiritual as part of its composition but not necessarily for religious epiphanies. The release of sexual energy risks depletion and changes aspects of the energetics for the purpose of the OP's question.

So a few things: first, in the beginning, trying to remain still in Zhan Zhuang or seated meditation will be very difficult for most people. Perfect stillness isn't likely from day one and takes years of practice to achieve, as the body is removing physical, emotional, and mental tensions. FORCING stillness is not recommended in our school. This creates more tension. A few movements may erupt sporadically and involuntarily, and ideally, you minimize them, but don't deny them either. Eventually, they will stop on their own and it becomes much more natural to be still to the point that only a serious practitioner will understand when I say that you appear to be completely still even when your body is moving, such as when you are out walking and not even practicing directly. The caveat to this is to have the right meditation style for you and the proper guidance into it and through it. Otherwise, it's hard to make those adjustments as you go along and measure your progress.

A lot of it is actually quite true in the Global South based on government policies and non-state actors alone. I'm not sure which predictions you're talking about and if they're focused on Europe and North America exclusively.

Antares is coming from a different lineage, so please bear in mind that it may or may not necessarily align with the energetic map and compass used for Flying Phoenix. There may be parallels or even overlap, but Doo Wai family arts are intriguing and hard to fathom even in the context of more common consenus among systems. When Sifu Terry explains, it’s best to understand within the context of Doo Wai system alone rather than the other traditions. I have several other systems I practice and had a few others before meeting Sifu Terry. In my understanding of sublime from working with him, it can refer to the unique spirit of wonder and expansion that permeates your being, especially the first time you do Moonbeam, and then it becomes bliss when you do long form.

Not so much as they allow it so all the time as they are misled. As we see, there are elections where there is interference or cheating (see: Cold War Banana Republics and our fine government with their wonderful gift for propping up weirdoes around the world just like the Soviets did and now the PRC), manipulation through oligarchs and demagogues, and now tyranny (strongmen). Coincidentally (or not), these are the three worst kinds of democracy as described by Plato... On a cultural level, I've run across rural families who give entire votes to people they don't know about because the head of the family instructs them to do so. They don't even know the policies at times and it's weirdoes like former actors who become popular in India and the Philippines or Indonesia and get into government as the masses think they are the same heroes they played in their favorite movies. Arroyo didn't actually win her election in 2004 in the Philippines and it was proven she had cheated, but rule of law was thrown out the window and her own funds were used to keep her and her supporters in power. Not if the power structures ruling over them systematically keep them dumb and oppressed while content with their creature comforts like phones and telenovelas and drinks. Yes and no. I loved my time there, but I didn't love all my colleagues, and I didn't believe the structure was perfect either, though I did note that they tried to dissuade former intelligence officers from participating as it undermines the purpose of Peace Corps. A lot of countries actually like PC Volunteers--even Russia and China still invite many PCVs because of the cultural exchange. But there are also jerks in the PC like one guy who nobody understood why he was in Africa if he hated black people and why he stayed there until he said he was only there to pay off student loan debt and save money. I guess they lowered their standards for whom they take in these days... It is hard to ask when I'm actually interfering or participating! Creates a constant sense of depression at times when helpless in the beginning until I accept I am a denizen even if I am not a citizen.

Agreed, it's possible, but the probability of overcoming it is not guaranteed or high for everyone. I give on a daily, monthly, and annual basis in addition to volunteering plus my own service both in my career in development, my time in the Peace Corps, and my work as an advocate rather than an activist, not unlike your service in the military (thank you for your service by the way). Not everyone wants to live in a cave (I would love to myself), as the values others have like the sulfur workers in Central Java don't want to be carrying it up and down the hill every day for low income, but someone needs to do it and many of them didn't have the education they were theoretically promised to have under Suharto, as it feeds them and their families, much like many Overseas Filipino Workers don't want to leave their families for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the like, but the only way to feed their families is by working overseas. Many in Manila would agree with you on population control when sitting through traffic. But try telling that to people who are also adamantly Catholic to the point they actually "educate" doctors to not teach birth control, ban condoms in parts of the city, and encourage people to have as many babies as possible! This is values dissonance too, sadly, and why even working with people who share the values I have is frustrating because some among our constituents and beneficiaries aren't willing to make certain trade-offs too... Yes, it offers ways to adapt for those who have the tech to do so, but the metaphor that was used by some youth delegates in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania used was this: if the world is an ark and the rich live at the top with all the food and security while the poor and underdeveloped live in the part with all the holes and water leaking into the ship, filled with rats, roaches, and disease, why is it that because they are born in the lower deck that they must suffer and die faster when everyone is all going to sink eventually, and why are the life rafts only for the rich when the poor are the ones who also help maintain the ship? I believe in the technology. I do not believe in hoarding it and dangling it before the eyes of those less fortunate, let alone denying it to them in a power play.

It was an example, not literally "go buy Apple products". Do you realize how many people in places like Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles are unable to buy basic things because of the rise in credit card or mobile app-only merchants? If they have a criminal record, they can't get a credit card as easily, or if they are low income, they don't have a phone that allows them to access what is increasingly overtaking basic services. This is what has happened in Manila and Jakarta to the point that people don't know how to read maps but rely on GPS. Sweden as well is finding people can't participate because of their credit card only approach. By fully yielding to technological developments, it leaves people out and you're talking about consumer products where theoretically people have a choice, but low income people DO NOT have that privilege to choose, just like countries WITHOUT the technology needed for sustainability and climate change are left behind. Look at the Belt Road Initiative from China and see the debt trap people are entering now. If you can't understand that point, then that's fine as it's been clearly communicated to a few other members here who appear to share my values of cooperation rather than domination.

There is a saying apocryphally attributed to John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, so does my opinion." In the 21st century, people change facts to suit their opinion...

Yes, across civilizations technology has allowed some to dominate others like gunpowder in the New World. But that's the old paradigm, in this paradigm, we're striving to cooperate and collaborate so we can all be winners rather than stay on the wheel of conflict. To which issue? Climate change? If so, understand that there are multiple issues under the umbrella of climate change and those who work in the field of development have to work with others who focus on economics, others who focus on demographics, others on history, others on ecology, others on politics...it's a holistic issue that requires a lot of people to be on board at once to address the beast that is climate change, not something that just requires a pill to be popped or a gun to be fired. So again: are you taking the Malthusian approach of population control via natural disasters, the plague, wars, and the like? If so... Then this goes to the first point I replied to above in this message that that's the old paradigm of one actor (state or cultural group or civilization, whichever you prefer) dominating another. If you believe in domination, then that's just an issue of personal values dissonance with mine being that everyone is in this together to make a united world. Humanity chooses the wheel of conflict still for millennia and the masters and teachers always remind us that we can step off the wheel and evolve any time, but it has to come from free will and choosing to do so...and so far, most of us choose not to do that...

The problem with the technology angle is that some groups benefit and others don't, unless we infer from your early statement that there are always going to be winners and losers and people affected differently. Looking at Silicon Valley, the inequality caused by technology baffles me because the techies really believed it would be the great equalizer until the economists and the unprivileged and low-income people came in and said, "Enough about you, let's talk about me." If it's easy for Joe the Schmo in the suburbs to buy a new phone, laptop, and tablet every time Apple dumps something on us, but someone from the inner city is stuck using an old hand-me-down because his income doesn't allow him to replace as frequently, then he gets left out and he gets pushed down further. The tech argument basically says that tech will push people down even more than how climate change and income already pushes these people down, on top of existing socio-economic realities...

Malthusian approach? The song speaks of change and possibilities, yes. Possibility is not probability. It's a good song, by the way. I'm using data and government policies as well as other stakeholders who are involved in the process. Try going to any of the villages I've worked in and saying climate change doesn't exist or to any of the policy people even in the most Populist governments in both Indonesia and the Philippines and they will smile and think it's cute. The point is that the people in charge of policy and the people affected by climate change don't have time to debate whether it's real or not. Most people in your generation wouldn't care much for the song anyway and we're used to that. That's why the 90s was full of loud music so we could turn up the volume and drown out the Baby Boomers who said that their music was better. In all seriousness, I didn't expect you to like the song. It was just me being facetious because you played a song for the year 2550 and I thought I'd play a song for the year 2000.

Well, you didn’t answer directly my question and sent a music video of an old song my parents used to play when I was a kid. Good song, video is amusing, but doesn’t really communicate your idea in your own words. I shall leave you with a song from my generation’s lesser known post-grunge band for the year 2000.

Clarification, please: are you making a statement, asking a question, or making a rhetorical musing? Whichever it is, what is the point you’re communicating? Sincerely trying to understand because our first interaction was a misunderstanding that I overreacted to before and am still apologetic over.

Whenever people say climate change doesn’t exist, I wonder if they have ever lived in countries that have environmental policies precisely because of climate change affecting things from agriculture to floods, droughts, and more, such as Indonesia or Philippines. When I show my colleagues arguments that refer to “science” proving climate changes is a hoax, the first question they always ask is if the people referring to that data know any science at all. Indonesia and the Philippines alone have hundreds of NGOs and local social entrepreneurs alongside government policies addressing climate change. If it’s still a fake, then I will move climate change skeptics to the same place that I designate anti-vaccinators and Flat Earthers. On the subject of Flat Earthers, apparently they believe Australia does not exist and they’re all actors paid by NASA since “no continent can cling to the bottom of a globe.”

Hi Antares, Yes, I am a fan of Earl Grey and its many variants. There is a brand from Singapore, TWG, which is called "Earl Grey Gentleman" and is one of my favorites alongside French Earl Grey. From what I understand, there is also an Earl Grey Puerh tea from TWG too and popular. FPQ is fantastic and is my go-to for health. As students come and go on the site, this thread remains an oasis that is consistently monitored by Sifu Terry and me and other students still watch but don't post as much. Due to Sifu Terry's work, he isn't able to reply as much or as often as he would like either, so I've stepped in to help keep momentum here. In earlier posts, I mentioned how FPQ already enters my existing dreamwork to the point that I was already doing FPQ meditations while dreaming. Even recently, I have had dreams of doing FPQ meditations in dreams. Flying Phoenix energy as often repeated here is unique, so it stays with you and is intelligent. There was a time I stopped for several months and came back. There are times I stop for a few days and feel a difference. The DVD series alone is great, but even if you never learn a new form after the initial volumes 1-5 and 7, a lesson or two with Sifu Terry to perfect your form and get some secrets about the forms really makes a difference. My Moonbeam and long form and flash meditations are a lot more refined from his adjustments. To talk a little more about my own dream practice in relation to Flying Phoenix, we carry a lot of tension in our bodies and it shows when the heartbeat is rapidly pumping in our chests while waiting to lie down and relax. All the anxiety, stress, anger, and doubts pile up in the mind and in the physical body. This already made my earlier years of dream practice harder because I tried too hard to do dream practice. If I do Monk Holding Pearl while lying down, the body relaxes much more easily...but remember to do your closing breaths before going to sleep. I generally don't mix Shuigong with Flying Phoenix as the former is done at night and Flying Phoenix is my day practice, but the two seem to complement one another for me. For anyone who needs to check, as always, see Eric Isen to understand the impact of Qigong on you and what styles complement one another if you do more than just the Doo Wai systems here. One reason that vivid dreams from Flying Phoenix also is due to the fact that it is a very pure energy. I can share stories of how the long form MSW that Sifu Terry taught me invited a Buddhist being to come bless me and give what Eric Isen jokes as being a "psychic brain surgery" that opened up some channels of awareness and led to downloads. As recent as earlier this month, I dreamt I was doing the form again and saw my third eye in the mirror as a blue jewel in my forehead.