Vajra Fist

I've heard about siddhi discussed quite openly in schools where the so-called hard jhana is strongly emphasised, for instance the Pa Auk lineage in Burma. But even within Pa Auk tradition I've never heard that siddhi was used as an indicator of one's quality of practice. Personally, that would give rise to all sorts of attachments in me.

Semantics. The buddha said that insight isn't possible without mindfulness. Those who don't work to develop concentration first before practicing 'just sitting' meditation are basically just stewing in their own hindrances.

I suppose its what you do with the mind.

I think this was a peculiarism of the 90s qigong boom. Most of the systems that emerged around then had something similar, like pangu and (to a lesser extent) zhineng. Spring Forest and Robert Peng's master key are sort of children of 90s qigong, as they were influenced by masters teaching at that time. Falun Gong has 'passwords' too, except it was recited by the teacher in a recording that you'd play while doing the exercises. The idea was that it would prime the body in a specific way for the exercises to work. I imagine it's also a type of transmission. I'm guessing that it came from Yan Xin.

Forrest is a top guy, one of the most open and earnest teachers of kriya yoga in the west. His videos are mostly pre-initiation stuff. He's latched onto HRV breathing as it tallies quite closely with what Lahari Mahasaya called the 'tranquil breath'. It's actually part of a much wider and fascinating area of research. They've effectively reverse engineered the breathing patterns recorded in states of deep meditation, and promoted them as a means to induce those states. I've dabbled a bit with HRV breathing, via an app called 'resonant breathing'. It's certainly pleasant and relaxing. I'm sure it also has many health benefits - I measured blood pressure before and after and found a 10 point drop in systolic numbers. But I find it hard to truly arrive at tranquility when controlling or directing the breathing. That sort of quiescent feeling of waking up to fresh snowfall you sometimes spontaneously arrive at meditation. That said, I haven't been initiated by Forrest, so I can't comment on his system of kriya. I do know a few people from several forums who have though, who speak very highly of him as a teacher, and his authenticity. There's a decent interview with him here: https://escaping-samsara.com/forrest-knutson-the-process-of-yogic-meditation/

Because insight often requires concentration. Visualisation is a method of developing concentration, in the same way as the breath. The visuddhimagga is full of such samatha practices, many of which involve visualisation.

He does say though that through this practice he was able to achieve the skill of effortless visualisation. To have an idea of something and then for it to appear in vivid detail. This is not the nimmita itself, it appears to be a field state after the nimmita dissolves. For instance he used the example of drawing a pentagram in the air with one's finger, or on a whim imagining (and vividly seeing) an alligator hovering above his bed. Vajrayana uses this sort of visualisation as an object of samatha, where the mental image of a buddha or mandala becomes a point of mental focus. So it would seem that the main objection to visualisation - at least from the 'wu wei' approach - would be rather in the degree of mental effort required for the visualised object to appear. I.e. if you don't have the natural or trained facility to see visualised objects without effort.

Off topic, but I found this a particularly interesting discussion about visualisation, and how it serves as a bridge between magick and Buddhist traditions.

Eh, I've never understood the obsession with mo pai. If you want spiritual breakthroughs, meditate for longer. Go on long retreats. If you want exceptional good health, sign up to a gym and eat well. It strikes me that the people who are seeking out mo pai, are really only looking for party tricks to impress their friends.

I don't fully understand the modern male issues around masturbation and porn. What's wrong with it? It strikes me as a sort of post-Christian guilt. Whereas before we feared that god would punish us (every sperm is sacred). Now we fear that we're somehow depleting our manliness. Something about the repressiveness of the so-called 'nofap' movement feels very off to me. It seems like at the extreme end of it are the incels and the far right. It's like living in such a repressive way they've developed unconsciously aggressive or backward views toward women. Honestly, if you feel like you want to get your rocks off, just do it. It's healthy, not only emotionally but also apparently for other parts of the body like the prostate. Of course anything that becomes addictive or threatens to take over your life, is also not healthy. In the same way as alcoholism or emotional eating. In those cases there can be deep-rooted psychological or hormonal issues at play that a medical specialist or counsellor can help you with. Meditation can help with that too, in perhaps draining away the emotional charge behind your thoughts, and teaching you kindness toward yourself. In either case, the answer shouldn't be repression. In other words, don't go to any extremes. Take it lightly. When the cup is full it naturally spills over. Edit: just a note too on the purported 'masculising' effects of nofap - if your body isn't developing enough testosterone, you are most probably hypogonadal. No matter how much semen you retain, it probably won't make much of a difference. Go and get checked by an endocrinologist and get yourself treated. Testosterone deficiency is often a precursor to type two diabetes and heart disease.

For all the promises of qigong and tai chi, I can't think of a single qigong master that radiates good health and vitality. They usually have sallow, pinched features, or have dark auras. Many of them are also overweight or look in poor health. There is a lot of yin chi, and the most powerful among them inspire fear rather than radiate the warmth of compassion. By contrast, when I look at people who practice yoga regularly, they have abundant qi, a glowing complexion and open expressions. Similarly, when I am in the presence of a Buddhist master I feel so comfortable, like I am with a member of close family. I'm probably going to get roasted for this, but I am not just being a troll. I'm genuinely interested if others feel the same, and what the reason might be.

According to Buddhism, reincarnation doesn't exist, but rebirth does. This is something I find quite confusing. This is because the self doesn't exist. So there's not an eternal soul which leaves one body and travels to the next at the point of death. Instead, what does carry over to the next lifetime are the so-called aggregates - the postnatal conditioning, as well as what you brought along from previous lives. That being the case, I have no idea what goes on with ancestor veneration. Perhaps you're making offerings to aid in unpicking of karma for those aggregates that have been reborn. Or maybe its just a pre-Buddhist paradigm that has somehow found a place in modern Buddhist societies in the East.

Haven't tried those in ages! I remember covering the pads in gel and laying down on the sofa watching TV. Those were the days when everyone wanted a six pack. These days I'm stuck with a one pack.

The wuji and the standing poses generally helped a lot in developing qualities in the body that later were used in the form. But these were mostly physical, at least for me. The more I practiced standing, the more I could sense the minute detail in the interplay between muscle groups, bones and fascia. A small adjustment here, creates a release there, etc. A bit like yoga in that regard, as the mind gets soaked through the body. Ultimately having the mind on somatic experience is an excellent way to connect with and dwell within the present moment.

Ah sorry, I'd had a couple glasses of wine and was watching some scenes from Enter the Dragon. I didn't mean to day they looked the same, but rather that I've always thought Mantak Chia gave off similar vibes to Han. Anyway, apologies that this was construed in a racial way, in which it wasn't intended. Will delete.

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I'd be wary about the New Kadampa Tradition https://tricycle.org/magazine/the-one-pure-dharma/

Have binged the Netflix series 'Better Call Saul', and he uses the chi machine throughout. I'm not sure about whether it generates 'chi', but my goodness it just looks delicious for the spine. Anyone else have one?

If you want a Captain America jawline, and you believe broscientists, then you should put your entire tongue against the upper palate, not just the tip (that's what she said). This is apparently called 'mewing'

Just did a weekend inner mind rushen online retreat with Lama Lena, and would recommend it highly to anyone interested in Dzogchen or Mahamudra. She's a fifty-year western disciple of the late Wangdor Rinpoche and has impeccable lineage credentials. But what I liked most about her was the fact that the introduction was so easy to grasp, as we share a common native tongue. I'd tried receiving pointing out instructions elsewhere before but didn't really grasp it. I'm not sure yet whether I'll go further into dzogchen with the three words teaching, and trekcho. Or whether to go the mahamudra route. (From what I gather teaches both through regular online classes) Or whether I'll just wimp out and stick with the scenic route of samatha-vipassana, rather than attacking the sheer rockface that is dzogchen. As said, just leaving the recommendation here for anyone who is interested in this but hasn't had the good fortune to run into a teacher.

I've run into 'thunder style' taiji. Apparently its a branch of chen from Taiwan - mostly popularised by Adam Hsu.

For yang style I'd recommend Adam Mizner's Discover Taiji. https://discovertaiji.com/en For Chen, perhaps Fang Yuan https://www.taichichina.com --edit, goes without saying that you'll need hands-on instruction at some point, not only to correct choreography, but - more importantly - to teach you how to properly generate force. That said, it's still worth learning online, but I'd definitely recommend attending some seminars and retreats

I guess it's not strictly astral travel, but if you get a chance to read about the delog tradition in vajrayana it is both inspiring and a great spur for practice. This is well worth a read https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delog-Journey-Realms-Beyond-Death/dp/8177690930

But is she a Dr

From what I can gather, he and Wu Zhongxian teach the same shamanic tiger form, although I have no idea who taught who. I remember reading that Yuanming Zhang teaches fire dragon qigong too, although his is apparently from Lu Zijian https://www.qigongmaster.com/articles/fire-dragon-qigong (This is a pretty kick ass form) I asked Master Wu if his fire dragon meridian qigong was from the same source and he said it wasn't from the same lineage. (I didn't ask him about the shamanic tiger)