Vajra Fist
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Everything posted by Vajra Fist
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This is a good point. I wonder if he did come out, thereby proving the CCP media wrong, whether that would be viewed as a political challenge? His family are probably highly aware of what happened to Falun Gong when they challenged the government over the qigong ban. That said, does the question of dying of disease invalidate a qigong method? I know the wife of Chunyi Lin (founder of Spring Forest) also recently died. I can't find the interview where he talks about it, but I remember him saying something about certain diseases - the ones that come to take your life - are karmic in their nature, and beyond the scope of qigong's ability to stop. I can see how that would be true, otherwise qigong masters would live forever. Its certainly not the case that qigong masters live happily and healthily all their life. I mean, look at Doo Wai now. He's still alive but he's by no means healthy.
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Me too. I really like how down to earth his system is and also how he is as a person. There's no grand claims about mystical techniques or powers, it's all very ordinary. I was put off by that at first, but I think the more your body is in tune its ordinary nature, the more the door seems to open on more interesting stuff. I'll go through his MCO course and depending on how it works out ill sign up. I'm impressed so far though.
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Interesting. Tried Mizner's school but tbh it felt like he was drip feeding information in order to maximise the amount of time it took you to learn the form (and thereby the amount of money you spent on membership).
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Anyone signed up this academy? It looks pretty decent. Looks like he's teaching the same tai chi form as Adam Mizner with a similar business model.
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Yeah jiaogulan can be quite bitter in its raw form. The spring dragon tea is amazing, the mellowness without the aftertaste. It also has a berry-like flavour too. Ron specialises in tonic herbs, its not tea but he also does a brilliant green powder called Tonic Alchemy which is just sublime
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Came here to see if anyone had mentioned jiaogulan, wasn't disappointed. This tea is absolutely magical. I fell in love with it through Ron Teeguarden's Spring Dragon Longevity tea but its very expensive (at least in the UK) because he infuses it with other herbs too (schizandra, and a few others). I use the one from Na'vi organics on Amazon. Its more bitter but it still feels like a warm bath.
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Combining Practices (Tai Chi-Zhang Zhuang-Fragrant Qigong): Good or bad idea?
Vajra Fist replied to matrod's topic in General Discussion
See a few laughing comments, maybe "possession" has western, exorcist connotations. I don't mean it in such an obvious way. Maybe something like "attracting astral entities" is a better way of putting it. It's always been my feeling that when your mind isn't present on what you're doing in qigong, you've basically left an open door for other entities to siphon off the energy you've accumulated, or else attach to your body permanently. I've read about this happening mostly in spontaneous qigong. Some masters like Jenny Lamb specialise in removing these entities from qigong practitioners. Could be way off the mark here. Feel free to put me right. I'm not anti-fragrant qigong, I have heard numerous stories of healing from it and I like how convenient it is. Its just it gives me the heebie jeebies over this, and also the strangeness of the movements themselves. -
Combining Practices (Tai Chi-Zhang Zhuang-Fragrant Qigong): Good or bad idea?
Vajra Fist replied to matrod's topic in General Discussion
Not even the kid watches Dora, its the work of the devil. But it raises another point, does what you're watching influence what you get from the practice? If you're watching Trump on the news and you get angry, or watching Stranger Things and the demi-gorgon makes you jump, does that affect what the qi is doing in your body? All of Chunyi Lin's stuff of late is over the relationship between emotions and qi. It would strike me that your mood while practicing has a significant effect. -
Combining Practices (Tai Chi-Zhang Zhuang-Fragrant Qigong): Good or bad idea?
Vajra Fist replied to matrod's topic in General Discussion
Fragrant is the very opposite though in that it tells you to be distracted while practicing, you are even advised to watch TV while practicing so your mind is elsewhere. It seems like the very opposite effect you're supposed to get from the Buddha's method. Practicing qigong while deliberately placing the mind elsewhere also sounds suspiciously like an invitation to possession. -
Combining Practices (Tai Chi-Zhang Zhuang-Fragrant Qigong): Good or bad idea?
Vajra Fist replied to matrod's topic in General Discussion
The method was apparently taught by a buddhist monk. Its true that for the laymen there are many auxiliary practices, but I've never heard of a buddhist monk advise against meditation - the method of enlightenment of the historical Buddha. -
Combining Practices (Tai Chi-Zhang Zhuang-Fragrant Qigong): Good or bad idea?
Vajra Fist replied to matrod's topic in General Discussion
Always wondered how it can claim to be a Buddhist qigong when it tells you that you can't meditate -
Is that the YMMA one?
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How every post on TDB looks after about five pages
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Xiao Yao Pai & Xiantian Dao Yin Shu - [OFFICIAL THREAD]
Vajra Fist replied to effilang's topic in Systems and Teachers of
Thanks buddy, really curious about the answer. I've been interested in this system for a while -
Xiao Yao Pai & Xiantian Dao Yin Shu - [OFFICIAL THREAD]
Vajra Fist replied to effilang's topic in Systems and Teachers of
Sadly no! -
Spooky ghost discussion - experiences, theories and reasons
Vajra Fist replied to Miroku's topic in The Rabbit Hole
I'm always fascinated by Asian spirit lore. Seems like the folk religion of Shinto in Japan is entirely built around propitiation of these spirits and elementals. Almost every wooded glade there has some sort of shrine to the local spirits. The wife's grandma lives on a place called Sado Island (incidentally the place where Nichiren was exiled to), and the spirit world presses upon our world so heavily there I always feel the air is dense with it. Going for a walk in the countryside feels like treading on eggshells. Very creepy. Its strange that in the west we normally associate the paranormal with spirits of the dead though, while in Asia paranormal activity is associated with minor deities and spirits. -
Spooky ghost discussion - experiences, theories and reasons
Vajra Fist replied to Miroku's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Could be the native shamanic traditions. Or maybe its not more haunted than anywhere else but there are just more tv shows about ghosts there for English speaking audiences. I live in probably the most haunted part of England (Kent) and it seems almost everyone you run into here has a story. My brother and his boy scout group saw a green shape racing toward them down a sidewalk next to a graveyard, and my sister's typewriter started typing by itself. Loads of crazy stories. Seems everywhere is pretty equally haunted. -
This is shaping up to be a good thread. It's fascinating how many of us here started off with a Christian upbringing and eventually turned into spiritual seekers.
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I fully believe in your experience of this, and the obvious spiritual insight and benefit you've received makes me happy for you. The bums is a diverse place though, and many of the members here have had equally profound experiences of grace on other paths. Realising and accepting that doesn't detract from your own experience. As John said, "in my father's house there are many mansions".
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Yes a few over the years but it's probably time to reacquaint myself. There's also a reputable shin temple near me in London that I might pop along to at some stage. You're spot on here, my apologies. This could be a few different things. I've had something similar before where I was trying to learn several types of qigong at once, later found out people call it energy sickness. Could be that, or just that the Christian practice is a kind of contrary energy to what you've been doing before. Normally if you start a completely new system you go through a period of adjustment where all the stuff from your previous practices is removed from your body. I've had this in the past where I've gone through a period of vomiting when starting a new qigong. Thankfully the teacher was able to explain it. It went away pretty fast.
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I was raised a Catholic. When I was younger I felt like someone was listening, but later not so much. Eric Isen said the Virgin Mary is one of the divine beings who is looking over me (he's from the oneness movement so he believes in something called a personal divine). But honestly I feel like the Christian tradition is a broken one. Rightly or wrongly, I've always thought you can tell a lot about a tradition by looking at its followers. Christianity displays this pretty clearly. It's also part of the reason I've been turned off by Nichiren, when you can see the behaviour of the SGI who share the same method. Of course Ive never practiced it so I am probably completely wrong about that.
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Very early days, but tranquility and a distinctive feeling of connection with a benevolent higher power. Something I didn't have with the other mantras despite many years of practice.
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Just wanted to say thanks for your advice. I've been practicing pure land exclusively for the past week and it definitely feels like a step up, and perhaps that is reason enough to doubt Eric on this. I tried 'Amituofu' for a couple of days before falling back into the familiar territory of the Japanese 'Namu Amida Bu'. Although I find the Chinese version easier to recall during my daily life, for some reason I worry about whether my mental or verbal pronunciation of the tonal Chinese is correct. Of course I imagine it shouldn't matter, but it still raises questions for me when there shouldn't be questions at all. I'm more confident about the Japanese, although it's a bit more clunky to recall throughout the day. How long did it take for you to reach the point where the nianfo constantly springs to mind throughout your day?
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There's an excellent book by John Blofield about Guan Yin, where he weighs this theory and the evidence for and against. I can't remember the reasons why off the top of my head but I remember being swayed by his argument that they were seperate deities. Another one for me to reread again.
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Thank you for your post, and also @Miroku too. I have the book by Dawa Drolma, and it is a fantastic read. It's been a few years so I'll give it another look. I've always suspected the requirements are somewhat higher for those who recite the Mani and Medicine Buddha mantras and seek rebirth in sukhavati. Maybe the difference between self and other power, when compared to the nembutsu. Could be just a false impression though. Both sutras also speak of gaining fortunate rebirth in samsara in the next lives as a result of practice, which is less desirable by far than entering the pure land. Do you practice the Mani too or other mantras @Who.am.i? Or is your practice exclusively the nianfo? How many recitations do you aim for a day?
