Taomeow

Longmen Pai. The work with this aspect is an element of a practice known as Lingbao Bifa. And @Rainbowvein: thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you've found mine useful on your journey.

I think you're right in assuming that the most natural intelligence is the destination. And in suspecting that few people today know what it is. E.g. few people realize that their intelligence is not physically located in their head, in fact in my tradition it is assumed that the head is the place from which it most readily dissipates. Intelligence in the modern conditioned head is not incoming, it is outgoing, so to speak. "Supernatural" refers to intelligence present in realms which regular common-denominator contracted, conditioned intelligence has no access to. Something that is broadly (and IMO not very accurately) referred to as "spiritual" realms. Few modern people are at home there, but one's "supernatural intelligence" (which is something all people start out possessing) is. So, there's taoist practices for organizing this dissipated, disorganized intelligence, incorporating it back into your overall consciousness, including it into your overall intelligence. This process is very resistant to words -- it's a set of practices. The name this spirit is called is just one possible label, it is not the phenomena itself, as usual. The light associated with some manifestations of these phenomena is simply recognized (some people do mention naturally and spontaneously seeing it before, usually in childhood -- which is the case with me too), and then put to use, put to work in aiding this consciousness-organizing process. Taosim only gets metaphysical when doing so serves a purpose, and "supernatural" is a label that serves the purpose of pointing a finger in a certain direction, is all. To wit, in the direction of realms "ordinary" either hasn't explored yet or has forgotten. But, yes, at the end of the day, the most far-out supernatural phenomena are only natural.

In the tradition I follow we work with this light, it is part of the phenomena of ling -- supernatural intelligence.

This one was seen by over 740 million.

The owl goes to hunt, swoops, pulls from the night a -- mouse? A tiger's tail tip.

Now see its true face through the sniper's optic scope home sweet home sweet home

changed my mind

That's the prime age for the dark night of the soul. Youthful folly has departed, hoary wisdom hasn't arrived, whatcha gonna do? Crisis of self-identification, you are not who you thought you were anymore, but also not even close to who you thought you would be by now. The age when you realize that the first half of your life has been hijacked by parents and the second will be hijacked by children whether you have them or not. If you have them, they push your own importance aside, you are reminded on a daily basis that someone else matters more. If you don't have them, you walk in the valley of the shadow of something worse than death: extinction! With existential problems like these, you show up at TTB, you get your ass banned in no time. That's why.

Just as "all of Laozi" is stuck in so many heads in the form of just one line -- "the tao that can be spoken is not the eternal tao" -- so all of Wittgenstein is stuck in mine in the form of one line expressing his philosophy in a nutshell -- "you can't have my toothache."

Indeed. And fashion industry too. I had a friend, a lovely woman with a self-inflicted disability -- she always wore high heels, for years, and eventually her Achilles tendons shortened so she couldn't walk without high heels anymore! It totally blew my mind -- even her house slippers had to have high heels. Another thing... all those beautiful shoes on all those fashionable feet look a lot better than the toes of the wearers. Most are totally bent out of shape. I think if it wasn't for our world being so overrun by really big atrocities that smaller ones can happily go unnoticed, a campaign to ban torture by fashion would be in order... Alas, even the really big ones mostly go unnoticed... but I digress.

Thanks for the details, SC. Pretty cool. I used to be opposed to running based on the prevalent view of my taoist gurus that it's not doing anything useful (contrary to the Western paradigm), and still prefer walking qigong which can eventually be transformed from walking to practically flying (can't do it yet but have seen it done, by a 60-something lady in Moscow, a Longmen pai practitioner). But my theoretical views were modified a bit by BtR -- since this whole deal taps into the times vastly and deeply predating taoism, and you know me -- I believe in a golden age which "civilization" enforcers have kicked us out of. So, just convince me that people of the golden age ran a lot (which I think this book did, at least as a working hypothesis for the moment) and I'll take their ways over the ways of people who came later -- even taoists, gasp... But I still think running in cushioned sneakers on hard even surfaces does a lot more damage than good. There's running and running... Small children run a lot, but they never, ever jog!

I read your post right before going to my taiji lesson, and was inspired to try it barefoot, but halfway into the practice had to abandon the idea -- there's definite advantages (many), but the surface matters, and my teacher's practice area has lacquered parquet floor which sticks to a bare foot in all pivoting moves so you go screech instead of whoosh... not good. Maybe if I walk barefoot more and gain the kind of "supple leather" you describe on my soles too, this would be all-terrain. For now, I'm fine with barefoot taiji on some surfaces but not others. I do walk barefoot regularly for my walking qigong -- along the edge of the ocean, immersed to the ankle (or more) in warm weather, on dry sand when it's cold. This practice did make a difference already -- in inclement weather I used to always suffer from cold feet, even when I was little. Not anymore. As for the toes, mine are, per the description offered, Egyptian. I didn't take foot care so far as to lose all shoes yet, but I only wear high heels when I absolutely must (e.g. with a party dress that simply refuses to accommodate flats), maybe a few times a year, and the rest of the time I take great care to keep my footwear perfectly comfortable. Oh, and of course all my training shoes have the thinnest most flexible soles imaginable, no cushioning of any kind, no "support," the latter being, as you've correctly pointed out, total BS. The foot must move and learn to feel the surface, learn how to be sensitive and pliable. When I don't walk on the beach, my alternative qigong trail is on uneven bumpy terrain with parts of it on large sharp gravel along the railway tracks. The idea is to step on the sharp uneven stone with a thinly shod sole and have your own foot learn to flex around it so as not to get hurt. I found my inspiration in the Tarahumara way ("Born To Run") -- what about you?

The toes talk for sure...

"Tribal" -- that's probably impossible to find in the modern world, everybody has intermixed with everybody except for maybe just a few still-isolated tribes -- isolated enough for outsiders to have never seen their toes. "Chinese" -- I suspect (though I don't know for sure) there's more "Egyptian" toes among the Chinese than in Europe or the US, they look like "taoist" toes to me.

Thank you very much, Chang -- my original image somehow disappeared overnight, I've substituted this one.

So... has anyone here encountered, learned, and practiced any of the dual cultivation techniques as presented in the twenty-six volumes of the Yin Doctrines of Rong Cheng, Secret Principles of Sexuality, Divine Notes, Sunu Notes, Orthodox Prescriptions, Valuable Prescriptions, Effective Prescriptions, An Encyclopedia of Useful Prescriptions For Women, Guangsi Essentials, Sexual Techniques, The Principles Of The Universe? Most of these texts are tres esoteric, but when compared to each other, they appear to be pretty consistent and non-contradictory. E.g., The Principles Of The Universe, discovered in the 70s on bamboo plates found in a tomb in the Ma Wang Dui Han ruins in Changsha, talks about the "seven decreases and eight increases" which are supposed to be the key to mastering taoist anti-aging strategies, one's jing, and one's destiny, to say nothing of one's sexuality. Sunu Notes also describe these techniques. Bao Pu Zi, written by Ge Hong in the Jin Dynasty, details a similar increase-decrease strategy. So... has anyone ever practiced the Seven Decreases and Eight Increases techniques? Thanks for all possible returns.

Great thread. Enjoyed all the contributions. However, for those who find that "nothing works," here's a consolation prize: I've read (in an esoteric Rosicrucian astrological manual) that people with imperfect physical sight are more likely, though not guaranteed, to have other kinds of sight at a level above average. This is illustrated with case histories. Apparently the higher, written-in-the-stars, reasons why one's physical sight may be imperfect determine whether it's a sign of one's higher, average, or lower "spiritual" capacity. Some are blinded by the light, so to speak... I (e.g.) have, from the Western astrological perspective, so much Sun blasting my sight that it can't possibly be perfect in the physical realm... but there's a chance I can see differently/elsewhere if I'm good. (From the Chinese astrological perspective, I've Fire Excess, something to learn to handle -- in everyday life and in alchemical work. So, the "sunning" practices, candle-gazing, etc., are likely to work better for someone whose problem is, astrologically, his or her position "too far" from the sun and too low on Fire, but in my case, as usual, Endarkenment is the ticket. )

Take heart. Maybe you are closer than those who do see. "The five colors blind the eye" -- Laozi.

Good questions. Here's some traditional answers: 1. "Contracted "vs. "expanded" -- or, more precisely, inward-directed vs. outward-directed -- is very obvious if you look at the anatomy of the male and female gender-determining reproductive organs. Transient things like who's more "outgoing" are socially and culturally dictated, ditto who uses more makeup (in some cultures, it was the male privilege) and wears more striking clothes (likewise). But fundamental things like who is a man and who is a woman due to the yin-yang dynamics built right into their anatomy and physiology are dictated by tao. Yin is inward bound, yang is outward bound. 2. "Internal" vs. "external" -- ditto. Compare, e.g., ovaries to testicles. Also in reproduction, sperm has to go out for the male and in for the female, and the resulting fetus is located internally, within female yin, rather than dangling off a man's patootie. Yin and yang are fundamental principles, and they are most obvious on the fundamental levels -- such us the level of actual anatomical and physiological gender differentiation and reproduction of the species. 3. "Cold" vs. "hot" -- this has to do with human body shape and its location in between the earth and the sun (which are our constant points of reference for what's more yin and what's more yang, since in relation to each other, they are a yin-yang pair.) Again we are on the level of fundamentals here, cosmic ones, and the place of the human in the "middle world" between upper and lower. A normally developed woman has a heavier lower part, the bulk of her body is thus closer to the earth, farther from the sun, and therefore colder. A normally developed man has a heavier upper part, the bulk of his body is farther from the earth, closer to the sun, hence hotter. I'm pretty sure skin thermography would confirm this -- on average, in the same ambient conditions, the woman will be cooler. Hope this makes sense.

Heartfelt thanks for the interview opportunity and all the fun questions, dear bums. It so happened that in order to respond, I had to pull my awareness, huffing and puffing, from altogether elsewhere, so as to turn it once again to the life of the "collective mind" of this forum. It was a bit like "leaving the world" and "coming into the world" simultaneously. It was also quite educational to watch my own mind traverse the expanses of virtual and non-virtual reality in two completely unrelated places speaking four different languages, trying to be the boss of where it goes instead of just watching it go where it will. So, thank you once again!

I've always had great respect for your species. And Leo Tolstoy believed that people should learn to cooperate with you more closely and learn from you, not just exploit you for honey, propolis, and beeswax.

Joeblast, I wanted to PM you but was told that "this member can't receive new messages." I think you may want to free up some PM box space, just in case.

We lived in a consumer-technology-impaired country when my kids were little, and had an old black-and-white TV, from way back in my own childhood I think. Then we got a color one. My daughter, then about 4, didn't notice the difference, and didn't understand what I was talking about when I told her that now it's all in color. She asserted our old TV was all in color too, and thought I'm playing some weird trick on her when I tried to explain that it was black-and-white. She never saw it as black-and-white, it had always been a color TV for her.