Earl Grey

I haven't decided if I am having a laugh at this Tai Cheng nonsense or shaking my head as I wince. Next you know, they may have a pyramid marketing program for partners to promote health and earn money to be fit and fabulous, all hunky dory. I showed this to one of my Tai Chi students who has only been training for two weeks, doing only seated and standing meditations, knowing absolutely no forms whatsoever. He took one look at the video and postures and after 30 seconds, he said it looks horrid: There you have it: the company can't sell this to even the most absolute novice because it looks like rubbish.

When I first started training, I tried out Winn's methods, then eventually discarded them in favor of "authenticity" (Ha! What a joke! Winn does know his stuff and it is great, and one can't get any more "authentic" than that). I learned different Microcosmic Orbit methods, two more versions of Five Animals (Spontaneous Five Animals and John du Cane's DVD series), and eventually realized that Winn's methods are actually very, very, very good. I personally don't do them a lot with the exception of teaching them more than most styles my students want to practice, and they all are very happy with the results on their lives and well-being. They don't even treat it as a "gateway" to other styles to learn under me or my teachers. In my experience with the five variations of the MCO that Winn teaches from his fundamentals DVD, it has come to a point that they are always occurring passively even when not willing it to happen. The pure mind visualizations he teaches in the audio CDs is also really good because I can do them subtly and passively without anyone knowing what goes on--and anyone who knows about the electrocuted bunny story also understands that it is quite strong. His Wudang Spinning Dragons Orbit is my favorite by far.

Sifu Terry, I am extremely excited to hear that in addition to new Flying Phoenix DVDs coming out within a year that there will also be Tao Tan Pai. Will the Eight Sections of Energy Combined come to DVD eventually as well or are you reserving that for in-person training/Skype? (Both of which I will hope to be able to do with you soon to level up my training from beyond just DVD work!)

I am self-healing myself at night: I've caught myself waking up as the palms move on their own to those energy centers. In dreams, I have been doing the Castaneda hands technique you describe for a couple years now--I believe it's from the first or second book-- including opening my mouth with the funny expression Don Juan made to tease him when first instructing him on how to do it. The way I heal myself with FP energy in dreams is now me doing forms and emitting this huge glow to heal an environment more than just healing myself--especially Monk Holding Peach, Monk Holding Pearl, Seated Meditation 5% 60% 80% 40% 30% and Seated Meditation 50% 30% 10%, and Wind Above the Clouds and Wind through the Tree Tops. I'm floating in a sphere or egg-shaped energy as though I were in the womb but in half lotus often, then a huge, huge field of energy emits outward beyond the sphere/oval and gets colored blue in dreams. Still not doing them deliberately and lucidly in dreams, it's more like I'm dreaming of doing those forms, so I take those dreams as a sign to do those forms more. Thank you Sifu Terry. I am now 5 days away from completing my 100-day gong without skipping a single day of practice.

Just to add on to my own dreaming and lucidity update on the thread without derailing smallsteps' query here... I practiced before bed a few times recently and woke up to find myself spontaneously doing form while sleeping--as in, I dreamed I was doing form, then sudden lucidity I felt my body moving on its own whilst lying in bed doing a form as well. I worried that I may be doing something wrong so I took three deep closing breaths and opened my eyes, and went back to bed. It has happened numerous times and sometimes, my hands would connect to the jade pillow in the back of the head, upper, middle, or lower dantians, or the crown, but most often the jade pillow and lower or middle dantian. Even times when I experiment and do nothing but Flying Phoenix for a few days, my body begins moving on its own after falling asleep and the hands start healing or connecting channels through the palms of my hands.

Beautifully said, Astral_butterfly. I am happy to have you as part of our community--our family--of Flying Phoenix students.

Hi smallsteps, my apologies if my own answer may have offset you, while I can't speak for others, I would like to think that they are well-meant. At least take it from me that I wanted to answer you and encourage you in whatever practice that you decide to undertake that it will not conflict with your views or challenge them, but it will challenge your mind as we enter a harmony of mind and body and energy into stillness and emptiness.

This is a question I find is asked frequently about Qigong in general. What I can say teaching different cultural and religious groups is that while Qigong may work with qi and can have either Buddhist or Taoist origin, one does NOT need to convert or change their spiritual beliefs so that they can practice qigong. If anything, I find my own students in the other qigong systems I taught became even more spiritual in their respective religion, whether they were Catholic or Muslim or Jewish. Sifu Terry may answer you with his own details on the matter if necessary, but I've never had anyone need to convert or change their religion to practice Qigong. So as a peer, I'll say you don't need to worry about conflict with your religion or needing to change it regardless of the Taoist and Buddhist origins of a system.

I just wanted to chime in that my dream practice is now feeling even more the distinct effects of Flying Phoenix (more can be seen of my overall practice in my personal practice journals). Extracted here: "I then dreamt of Master JR and his ex-wife, and he told me we had to train in a dungeon-like room in his castle. The world was black and white, and his ex-wife took his son while he took his daughter. Eventually, I flew around the castle in a panoramic manner, and looked up to see a larger version of myself doing Flying Phoenix's first seated meditation (5% 60% 80% 40% 30%), and every time the palms turned inwards and outwards, a flash of blue tinted the world." I had indeed been doing that meditation just before sleeping, and even as I am already practicing volumes one and two and just learned Wind Through The Tree Tops, that particular seated basic meditation still resonates with me very strongly for some reason. It was almost eerie to see a larger version of myself dreaming like the Red King of Alice in Wonderland and The Looking Glass, doing form and looking translucent, bringing color to the world, even if only the blue flame of Flying Phoenix.

Yes, when I train, people not doing it who are sitting there see or feel a surge of subtle and light energy. Especially my ear acupuncture patients. Sifu Terry can answer best for your situation, but I am glad you are inspired. Take care!

Happy to hear you are doing a bit better and sorry to hear you are struggling a bit. My practice a couple pages back on page 236 had Sifu Terry mention an advanced practice was to do it just before sleeping as an advanced practice to eventually go into lucid dreaming state, wherein eventually I practice just befor sleep and then practice forms in dreams as well. I personally practice before sleep because it really helps me sleep peacefully, and if I'm doing the wakeup monk serves wine meditation, I'll do that set in the morning. So I personally feel that it depends on what forms you choose to practice to determine what's best to do during the day. I end up practicing all of the volume 1 and 2 forms daily, as Flying Phoenix is practically my main cultivation nowadays since my intention is to hopefully be certified to teach at least basic forms due to the wonderful effects it imparts even to people in my vicinity when I train. So I'm going to say that if you do morning practice, I do the three monk serves wine meditations and any three standing. If you do only evening practice, the I do the first three basic seated and any three standing as well.

I grok your words and drink deeply, Tao stillness, thank you my friend. The camaraderie here is what else drew me to the Flying Phoenix system, because a great teacher and good-hearted students are the fruits by which one one may know what kind of seeds an art like this sows. May we all grow together as a community, team, and family.

I second this point about clarity and productivity. It's come to a point for me that a day without practice is akin to a day without showering or brushing one's teeth.

A little update I'd share from my personal practice journal here for the group thread. I did the first four standing and three seated meditations from 2300-0100 last night, which has become my new practice schedule, and have done so consistently for just about forty days now. I wasn't planning on sharing too many developments here on the thread until I had done a full one hundred-day gong (maybe even 108), but I dreamt I was doing practice and using the qi developed for purposes that were not healing. From protecting myself in a haunted mansion using the standing meditations such as Monk Holding Peach or generating a wave of energy from my thumb, index, and middle fingers to blast through the wall of some science fiction scene and fly out of some mechanical danger room, escaping into the cosmos, there were moments of lucidity that made me wonder if today, upon waking, this would be considered my daily practice done already. A part of me says it's just going deeper into what I have already done, and will probably continue as usual tonight, but the mental state I enter whenever I finish my FPQG practice was already tuned in the moment I woke up this morning. Practicing in dreams is usually known to be powerful and profound, but I don't want to get ahead of myself and presuppose anything just yet.

I get the feeling this topic may be bound for the pit soon. So before it potentially goes there, please be nice, everyone, speaking as a concerned member with no moderator privilege. Lessdaomorebum has stayed on and while it's good some much needed discussion on expertise and misinformation is happening here, something tells me that it has also opened doors that may let in much more than what was expected with the original post.

Children building sand castles only to be swept away by the sea--same question one asks why Tibetan monks make sand mandalas and then destroy them later to show the impermanence of life and warning to avoid attachment perhaps? As for spiritual journey, I actually found I progressed more when I stopped defining it and started just living and being. Perhaps I enjoy my practices and the awareness and compassion I develop, the detachment from most material indulgences, or miracles I witness daily. Maybe I enjoy the people I meet and fearless approach to life since embracing Vedic and Taoist practices. Who knows? Life beyond myself as an individual and insignificant speck of dust blessed with consciousness leads me to conclude that "I am" has lost meaning to me, and I concern myself more with "Thou Art That". Dialogue, reading, travel, practices, experiences--all methods of transmission to the seeker. All paths for exploration and discovery to find the abyss within and pull out answers and mysteries, or perhaps immerse ourselves in them. But what do I know? I'm just some dumb kid who plays around with things older than his own species and knowledge even his ancestors couldn't comprehend. And I will likely die before I find answers when the waves come up the shore to knock over the sand castle I've built. But at least I will have enjoyed myself and left some inspiration behind for the other kids, who I happily leave my pail and shovel for them to use, and perhaps even make a bigger, better sand castle than me and all those before me by learning from my mistakes instead of repeating them.

Marblehead, on the subject of patience and flexibility, the first thing that comes to mind is the practice of saying to every living being that annoys us or bothers us in any way that brings about the lesser emotions (and even to the ones who bring out the great emotions) "I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you", otherwise known as the Ho'oponopono chant in Hawaii. Chanting it silently in our minds instead of thoughts like "Screw this guy!" or "I hate her!" and for every individual living being we encounter makes a difference after a few days, I could definitely use it more myself, but I've found it works wonders if we are willing to give it a shot. I should definitely use more of it now too now that I'm thinking of quite a few people who have annoyed me recently.

I am a bit confused and seek clarity about mixing systems here: earlier in the thread, as I recall, what was meant was that one should not learn different systems concurrently with Flying Phoenix, but if the other systems are already well-established when learning FP or vice-versa, this is fine as well. I interpret this to mean that I can continue to practice what I already learned and established as part of my daily regiment long before I began Flying Phoenix, as long as it is done separately during the day and not within the range of practice time during FP. Sifu Terry, would you kindly help clarify for me please?

Frederic, I am reminded of a quote one of my teachers taught me: "Neither be too far from your teacher nor get too close to him." The way I have experienced training in traditional internal arts is that while there can indeed be a family dynamic, your teacher is not your friend or your best friend, as that can impact the ability to be impartial and eventual hopes of developing into an independent master in your own way. A term once described to me was called "Master Addiction" and the movie "The Last Dragon" from 1985 shows an example of that and how the protagonist was too caught up in idolizing his teacher rather than recognizing his own merit and development. Nothing should be taken too personally, but nothing should be totally disregarded because one isn't close--I certainly don't expect my teachers to hug and kiss me when they are hard on me and I feel defeated. In fact, it's often by design that a teacher in the internal traditional arts that they interact with you in a particular manner so that you understand yourself and your place. While I certainly am grateful and amazed at the gifts Sifu Terry and the Doo Wai family have bestowed upon humanity (and make no attempt to hide my love for it), ultimately, our own health and well-being are our responsibility, for Sifu Terry, as he says in his response to you, don't take anything personally, for we are here for honest and open discourse, and his thinking as I understand it is pure and not meant to hurt you or belittle you--if one sees injury or slight, it one's own thinking, not Sifu Terry's thinking (and oftentimes, when we feel or see insult and injury, it's our own perception, not the other person's intentions). Everything as I see it is dialogue to grow as a group and as individual masters in our own right. Also if he doesn't reply immediately, he has his own reasons--he's a busy guy and most teachers are not as readily available as he is, especially to answer every e-mail or question we post here after it's been answered multiple times and can be found using the search function in the forum. I have a teacher who I'm lucky to see once a month or reply to me teaching me Xin Yi, because what he has is a diamond itself and if I break protocol or violate any of the agreements, he can easily choose to stop training me ever again--most people would give up their lives to learn something and could bring wagons full of gems and still not warrant the attention of the masters, and even when a master accepts a student, too much praise can fuel the ego rather than discipline or training. This observation and information aside, welcome to the community! I'm a fellow Reiki practitioner myself and feel a very, very big difference in treating patients whenever I do Flying Phoenix that day, especially right before, which I would best describe as "Two frequencies expressing the same voice that says, 'Heal thyself'", something which my patients describe too. Enjoy training!

I wouldn't consider Tibetan monks chanting Om Mani Padme Hum loud music per se for both the kind of music or the volume of music (even at full blast), but my understanding (and it has worked well so far for the first two standing and seated meditations) is that when there is emptiness, it will be filled; i.e. when I have "silence" in my apartment, either the trains honk loudly every half hour or someone is slamming doors on my floor or the dustman is ringing his bell to collect everyone's waste. When I have fullness, i.e. when I have Om Mani Padme Hum playing, then the rest of the ambient noise doesn't affect me because of the chanting.

An update on the noise issue: the Tao was giving me the answer right in front of me--be one with the noise by creating my own. I just threw my hands up one day and turned the volume full blast for Om Mani Padme Hum on my iPad before beginning FPQG. That dealt with 95% of all the crazy noise in Manila from my apartment and allowed full concentration free of sudden distraction or upset...and then I had a dream of meeting and having tea with Sifu Terry. Having done this now for a few days, I can definitely say the benefits of the first standing and seated meditations created a calm and healing effect that led to a presence my students and patients noticed even before treating them. (Side note: I teach other styles, definitely not FPQG). Thank you again Sifu Terry and the Doo Wai family and the spirits who bequeathed the gift of Flying Phoenix--I want to give more back because I feel I've ripped off Sifu Terry and the system by paying as low as I did for the DVDs when these are great treasures so priceless that I can't even comprehend how much I owe for this privilege of practicing it.

Okay, firstly, I can do most of my practices from meditation to spontaneous five animals qigong with noise, however, only Flying Phoenix and Relaxation Qigong styles don't work with the level of noise in Manila. To put it one way, at my income level, I can't afford to be in a quiet spot in Manila, because by and large, it's a loud city everywhere unless you're in a high income high rise apartment area. Parks here are also inaccessible due to distance and hours of traffic getting worse every day, the air is comparable to Beijing level pollution, and noise is pretty much everywhere. Welcome to Manila, where our neighbors in Jakarta are our only friends who know what constant noise, pollution, traffic, and inaccessibility hinder every individual's ability to get anything done unless they are at a certain level of both income and free time to sit through hours of traffic just to travel 7km. No exaggeration. As I mentioned... The earphones don't work here because the noise is that loud in Manila, and unless you are living here or Jakarta (both cities I lived in before), it just isn't that easy to find quiet. I'll also add that it's both flood/typhoon season, and this year is La Niña, and Manila has been known to flood my apartment building waist-level, adding extra layers of complexity for getting around to find those spots. My current solutions are I only get to practice when I am outside the city or at a rich friend's apartment. Otherwise, I wait until I leave Manila semi-monthly and just practice other styles that don't get me as bothered by noise. Or, there is a golden hour from 0300-0400 in the morning when there MIGHT be no noise. I actually can handle noise, however, it's FP and Relaxation styles that make loud noises or sudden noises unbearable--no other style makes me as reactive to the noise besides FP or Relaxation styles. I've done deep level Golden Flower meditation in public in Tanzania before unaffected. But Sifu terry isn't kidding when he says loud noises aren't good when doing FP.

Hi everyone, So I know that as has been said many times here, loud noises become much, much more grating and potentially harmful to us when practicing FP Qigong. The advice I read here is to get a good pair of headphones to deal with it. Unfortunately, I live across the street from the train tracks, there is construction in several buildings daily, and Manila traffic passes by me even into late hours of the night, which my Apple earphones from my iPod just aren't doing enough when practicing. Anyone have any other noise challenges they'd like to share or other solutions besides getting expensive headphones or moving to the countryside? I am a bit frustrated now because the noise now becomes far more grating on my patience since starting practice.

And I have often been reprimanded for believing I started late at the age of 28 in serious Taoist practice four years ago (or six if you include the two years my teachers made me sit before agreeing to teach me) compared to my peers who started as teens or prepubescents. Then I learned T.T. Liang I believe barely started at 40 and he became quite skilled and mastered Northern Mantis. I tried the first standing meditation the other day and already saw some blue light on my fingertips. Wow. Haven't been able to continue unless at a friend's house because I live in front of the train station and my headphones are inadequate at canceling noise. Wow, I didn't realize how sensitive and irritable i can become at noise as has been mentioned here many times when doing form.

Hi from Manila, everyone. I waded through this entire thread in about two-ish weeks, and it was worth it. I spoke privately with Sifu Terry via email, and as I await the arrival of my contact this Sunday to bring me the six DVDs with FP, I feel Christmas is coming early for me as I add more knowledge to learn. Currently, I'm a young professional who did his time in the Peace Corps and in various NGOs in Southeast Asia. Naturally, the easiest way to stay grounded and to serve people beyond programs and funding was speaking to the heart through qigong. I am a private medical qigong therapist here and do Liuhebafa with Yi Quan (combined as Xin Yi) and Yang 108 Taiji, and have other skills such as Pranic Healing and Reiki, multiple practices in tarot and Sanskrit mantra, and am eager to learn alongside you, fellow students.