Sudhamma

Hi Aden, what I see from the photos and videos are atypical Northern Long Fist routines. I must add also that under the umbrella of Northern Shaolin, there are many schools/styles... I had mentioned Liu-He-M'en or 6 Harmonies, and in your school's curriculum, there is one set from there. Liu-He-M'en full name is Shaolin Wei Tor Liu-He-M'en. Wei Tor is the name of a diety. If I'm not wrong, the Tiger-Swallow set is from Praying Mantis. The students are wearing yellow sash, but not well tightened to constrict the waist. For internal cultivation of nei-qi and nei-gong, the t'an t'ui set is enough. The "18-skills" you mentioned refers to the 18 types of Chinese weapons, including bows and arrows.

Hi Aden, I don't know about Sip Pai Gi. If the pronuniciation is in village Cantonese accent, then it stands to mean (a mix) "10-styles or schools". The term Long Fist, is an umbrella term for styles like Wah Chuen, 7-star Praying Mantis, Cha-chuen, Northern Shaolin, Mizong, Wudang (external school), Piqua, and styles/schools that employ long range hitting techniques. Taijichuen and Baquazhang are not considered as long fist system, but Wuji-chuen which looks similar to baquazhang, and is an internal system is in the long fist category. As for the use of the sash, it is not about ranking, that's the Japanese system. The use is what I have said earlier. Qing gong or light body skill is a different kettle of fish. Standing post, is zhang-ma, not those 'hug the tree' type. Talk to your instructor on this. On t'an t'ui, if your set has 12 routines, then it is from Jingwu, but there are variations in execution, and thus differ from country to country.

hi Aden, lets go back to your original post. You have a year's practice in Northern Long Fist. If you wish to continue with it and at the same time begin your 'internal cultivation', you can. I've 2 questions on your NLF: 1. Do you use a waist sash to constrict your waist during the training? 2. Does your instructor teaches 'standing post' of his martial arts system. If both answers are 'yes', then it is worthwhile to continue. Reasons: 1. the sash is important to contain your qi within the middle-dan tien. This is the qi used in Northern longfist styles as there are alot of jumping, springing actions, rolling and somersaults. Can't do all these if your qi is rooted like the Southern martial arts, like White Crane for instance. Everytime a White Crane practitioner jumps, he has to bring his qi up from his lower dan tien, and that slows his action. 2. Standing Post: every martial arts system has their own system of stationery rooting, even for NLF. This however depends whether the instructor wants to put the trainees through the system. Its exhausting, and no fun. He will lose students. However, this 'standing posts' will bring you to the level of internal cultivation, if done correctly that is. If this 'standing posts' is not within your school's syllabus, then perhaps, if your NLF is that of Chin Wu's, your first basic set should be The 12 Routines of T'an T'ui; or the 10 Routines of T'an T'ui of Liu-He-M'en. Either of the T'an T'ui set is for 'internal cultivation'. Now, you should be confused with whether my definition of 'internal cultivation' is the same as yours. The 'internal cultivation' that i refers to is Nei-gung, not that of the Daoists' with their cultivation of 'dan' or pill of elixir. Do ponder what I suggested.

As I understand that 'yuanqi' is the energy for want of an English term that is passed from mother to foetus. And that this energy (primordial?) is stored in the kidneys. As the child grows, this yuanqi diminished unitl it expired and death occurs. In Chinese culture, one of the ways to prolong life is to enhance this yuanqi. At this point, I was given to understand that this yuanqi cannot be enhanced nor replenished and so, systems of qigong are invented and institutionalised to nurture the alternative system of neigong (which later was renamed as qigong).with the sole purpose of improving health and hence, longivity. What prompted this post is the readings I had in this TDB about replenishing yuanqi, about nei and wei dan systems which I find fascinating. I'm still learning guys, so be kind.

The topic: “.... I was given to understand that this yuanqi cannot be enhanced nor replenished..." The contributors: LaoziDao : provided two links on ‘Wu-Wei P’ai viewpoints on daoist qigong and (daoist?) enlightenment. My comment was: ‘Though the school, Wu-Liu P'ai considers its teaching to be a mix of both Daoist and Buddhist teachings, after reading the two main pages of the links, my humble opinion is that there are… contradictions which need some careful after-thought’. YiYinYiYang : provided a link to China’s CCTV4 documentaries, an interview with Mr Fan Zheng Lun on the TCM perspective on Yang Qi, with its relationship/interaction in the dual energies modality and the ‘three treasures’ of man, Jing, Qi, and Shen. On ‘shen’, I suppose that he meant yang shen, the life-giving force when he said that those having ‘shen’ will live longer, while those who lost it, will die. In the context to this Original Post, he did say that “Qi” are of three kinds, one, primodial heaven’s qi (xian tien qi). Second, the qi from fresh air, and third, from fluids and grains. And, he did say that it is ‘difficult’ to replenish yuan qi. So does that mean impossible? It’s a good documentary for people like me starting out on daoism/tcm: (https://www.youtube....flvJngxBM&t=38s). LaoZiDao maintained that one needs to be guided by a ‘true’ teacher to restore and replenish yuanqi: “Yuanqi cannot be replenished by TCM / Qigong or any other post-heaven methods. ….Yuanqi can be replenished, but it cannot be understood by ordinary man, it's why classics stress the need for a True Teacher to guide student through the process, stage by stage.” However, Orion did not agree to this assertion and with a tongue-in-cheek, said “There are no immortal humans walking around, aside from some tales that they exist. So we can safely conclude that it's not possible to replenish yuanqi in a meaningful way.” That brought a quick rebuttal from LaoZiDao with “But you're right, Xians (immortals) are generally not walking around amongst society, they cultivated years to be able to finally leave it and have no reliance on it.” Seems that the discussion may be hijacked to Daoism-proper. From then on, contributors were debating with one asking the other for proofs and evidence about the existence of immortals. Getting back to the theme, IIya spoke about receiving yuanqi until the age of 17 years old. And, Wells in his usual direct manner asked for the source of the yuanqi. The exchange was furious but the moderators did not intervene. YiYinYiYang joined in the furore with a passage in Chinese (with English translation of course) bringing into the argument, the three treasures of Jing, Qi, Shen and a ‘pre-heaven’ baqua depicting the ages and the rising and waning of yang and yin energies. To answer Wells asking for proof, YiYinYiYang quoted the following passage which to me needs deciphering: "This is not the method of passing through the viscera, of inner contemplation and having a point of concentration; of treading the Dipper and pacing the asterisms, using the six jia as markers of time; of sating yourself with the nine-and-one in the Way of Yin, meddling and tampering with the original womb; of ingesting breath till it chirps in your stomach, exhaling the pure and inhaling the evil without. 是非歷臟法、內觀有所思、履行步斗宿、六甲以日辰、陰道厭九一、濁亂弄元胞、食氣鳴腸胃、吐正吸外邪。" There were no comments by any readers on the above passage, and perhaps YiYinYiYang can explain in plain English what it meant. Orshavskiy in her defense suggested that the teaching about the process of obtaining yuanqi until the age of 17 was a secret transmission. Idquest offered a compromise with “As for how yuanqi behaves over the lifetime - I'd say very few people really know if at all? Because reference to the old textbooks might as well be just a theory, what matters is actual experience and practice.” At this point, I brought in a passage from a posting by SeekerOfHealing from another thread: “The power and quantity of the primordial qi are already fixed after birth. However, after birth the primordial qi still needs further nourishment and enrichment to enable it to be distributed to the whole body and to exert normal physiological effect. The primordial qi transformed from food nutrients provided by the spleen and stomach is called "acquired qi"…… The characteristics of the primordial qi in the kidney include three aspects: to promote the growth and development of the body and maintain reproductive functions of the body; to promote qi transformation to regulate water metabolism and excretion of urine; to fixate sperm and inhaled fresh air to ensure the functions of the kidney to store essence and receive qi. The primordial qi distributed to all parts of the body warms and promotes all the viscera so as to bring their physiological functions into full play”. Thus, I surmise from the above passage was that the expansion of yuanqi which initially provided by the parents, comes from the inertia of energy generated from cellular growth during the development of the body and organs. This seems agreeable to TheDustAutumn, “Once the initial spark happens and the fetus starts forming/the child starts growing, yuan qi is generated in the body naturally, through the same processes that internal alchemy hijacks in order to achieve its results. Since this type of qi is heavily used in tissue generation and general tissue formation, once puberty sets in and the body is fully formed this internal generation of yuan qi stops.” There is a video from YiYinYiYang on the development of the foetus. Daeluin quoted from Zhong Lu Quan Dao ji “In three hundred days the fetus will be mature, and in five thousand days the (zheng) qi will be complete.” 5000 days, that is 16.7 years of age according to the lunar calendar. In the tail end of the thread was another lively exchange about immortality. Thank you guys!

Hi, Piligrim, thank you for the discussion.

Hi Jonesboy, thank you for your reply(ies). I'm leaving this thread. May you be well and happy always. Sabbe satta sukhita hontu!

@Seeker of Healing, there are degrees of spiritual accomplishment that's why I mentioned about the "4-pairs of persons, and 8-types of individuals" in my earlier post. To destroy the 'three poisons' of anger. greed, and attachment, besides understanding what they are, wisdom and practice are required as well to remove these poisons and to fully realize what is meant by sunyata or sunnata. Do remember that there is no such thing as a Buddhist sunyata or sunnata, though there is an immense body of philosophical discussions on this theme of Emptiness in Buddhist sutras. Similarly, Buddhists are not the only ones inflicted with these three poisons, though other religions may not be as comprehensive in dealing with them as Buddhism.

@Jonesboy, I would say that Jesus is a Buddha. Answer: I've no problem with your personal belief, but what was that that Jesus had awaken from? Perhaps, Yehwa was also a Buddha? To me a Bodhisattva is not someone who does nice things or lives by some precepts. This to me is a Bodhisattva From the Avatamsaka Sutra... Answer: Can a person be considered a (Maha-)Bodhisattva but has no ideals (the bodhisattva-ideal), no vows and no practice (which means no faith), does no practise of paramittas? That person has the 'potential' (to be a bodhisattva), the unrealized bodhicitta, and steep in 'ignorance'. Great bodhisattvas have no attachment to Buddha and do not develop attachments; (Answer: Yet Cunti and Avalokitasvara are disciples of Amitaba Buddha and 'attached' to him) they have no attachment to the teachings and do not develop attachments; (Answer: aren't they Buddhists? Again in the Lotus Sutra, homage is first given to Sakyamuni Buddha) they have no attachment to lands and do not develop attachments; they have no attachments to sentient beings (Answer: they have their vows to save all sentient beings, for instance, Kshitigarbha vowed to 'save' all hell beings) and do not develop attachments. They do not see that there are sentient beings, yet they carry on educational activity, civilizing and teaching ways of liberation; they do not give up the practices of bodhisattvas with great compassion and great commitment. (Answer: ain't this 'attachment'?) Seeing buddhas and hearing their teachings, they act accordingly; trusting the buddhas they plant roots of goodness, ceaselessly honoring and serving them. They are able to shake infinite worlds in the ten directions by spiritual powers; their minds are broad, being equal to the cosmos. They know various explanations of truth, they know how many sentient beings there are, they know the differences among sentient beings, they know the birth of suffering, they know the extinction of suffering; while knowing all acts are like reflected images, they carry out the deeds of bodhisattvas. They sever the root of all subjection to birth. They carry out practices of bodhisattvas for the sole purpose of saving sentient beings and yet do not practice anything.(Answer: self-contradictory statement) Conforming to the essential nature of all buddhas, they develop a mind like an immense mountain. They know all falsehood and delusion, and enter the door of omniscience. Their knowledge and wisdom are broad and vast and unshakable, due to the attainment of true enlightenment. This is the insight of practical knowledge of equally saving all sentient beings in the ocean of birth and death. (Answer: are you referring to the super-normal powers obtained from meditation?)

Do you mean 'sunyata' (sanskrit) or 'sunnata' (pali) which means voidness, emptiness?

@Seeker of Healing, those Bodhisattvas that you refer to are rightly called as Maha-Bodhisattvas, like Earth-store (Kshitigarbha) and Kuan-Yin (Avalokitasvara) Bodhisattvas. However, any one of us on the path, keeping the precepts and practise any of the paramittas without exception, is a bodhisattva. In this context, a bodhisattva is not or may not be an arhant or even within the "4-pairs of persons, the 8-kinds of individuals" a reference to those who are stream-enterer, right up to the category of none-returner. It is this inclusiveness that accepts non-Buddhist saints as bodhisattvas.

There was one interview with The Dalai Lama and his reply to a question about Jesus, was that Jesus was a Bodhisattva. Who is considered a Bodhisattva? On a broad perspective, a Bodhisattva is one who kept the precepts (5, 7, 10, or 227) and practise the Paramittas, the Perfections. The basic 5 precepts are inherent in all religions, and in varying degrees, the paramittas, and can be observed and practised without even taking refuge in the Triple Gems. If a person has a good moral bearing, and practises all the precepts and one perfection in his life-time, for all intents and purposes, he is a Bodhisattva. Seeker of Healing is quite right that a Christian saint (having all these attributes) is considered a Bodhisattva. Just like when a 'free-thinker' friend replied to my asking of his faith replied that he has no particular faith, but observe and practise the goodness of heart, in deed and thought. I said to him that in that case, he is a Buddhist, for the Teaching of All the Buddhas is 'Do good, don't do evil, that is the teaching of all the Buddhas!"

@Pilgrim, Thank you for your post. From my perspective, mantras. dharanis and pirits must be chanted with purity of heart, sincerity, focus of thought (or intent) plus a moral foundation that comes with commitment to the practice of the Faith. With this, even the Lord's Prayer can be a dharani, not necessarily the verse(s) must be from a particular religion. Whether the mantra is effective or not, depends upon the degree of moral cultivation of the one chanting it and not just the power of thought or mind.

@Spotless, your thread #16: the original post did mention the words, 'skillful means'. What is really meant by these two words? Are mantras, a product of tantric practices and dharanis, the extended version of mantras commonly used by Mahayana Buddhists, 'skillful means' used by The Buddha? In his 40 years of ministry, he did come across communities and people with different aspirations, different intellect, different perceptions of the world and with prejudices. just like people of today. His teachings are individualized to cater to different people or communities. Thus, therein lies his ability to preach to different people and communities across the sub-continent. With that, the meaning of the term, expedient or skillful means and shows the depth of wisdom and knowledge of The Sammasambuddha. And that's why Sakyamuni is the Sammasambuddha. I shall mention 2 well-known parables, The Poison Arrow and The Raft; and also 1 most important sutta, The Turning of the (Dhamma) Wheel, none of them with any mantras nor dharanis. Nor The Ratana Sutta used twice effectively to end disease during the Buddha's time and drought in Sri Lanka has any mantras nor was the sutta classed as a dharani. Why is that so? The reason is very obvious. The reason why incessant chanting of suttas, the Teachings of the Buddha, or dharanis and mantras would not lead to Enlightenment is also very obvious, once the wayfarer understands what is this Enlightenment is about. There is nothing to argue about. There are the Three Baskets (within the Theravaden tradition) recorded since the Great Passing, Parinibbanna to ensure the correctness and trueness of the Teachings, perhaps with minor mistranslations, but that is what Humanity has unless we have a time-machine to go back in time to the days of the Buddha to tell you what I Iearnt first-hand from the great teacher. Books are what we have. The Buddha was asked how to recognise whether a teaching was his after his passing. And his answer remains to be the guide for most of us (we call ourselves Buddhists) to determine what we hear or read conforms to his teaching, and discard those that do not conform. I've answered the 4 questions that David asked in accordance to the Theravaden tradition. However, by all means seek your version of enlightenment through solely mantras and dharanis if you are happy and please with them, but I see that sort of path to enlightenment as ignorance.

1. Can Mantra and Dharani Samadhi and Mantra/Dharani repetition/chanting lead to enlightenment? Answer: The 8-Fold Path is the most basic path towards Enlightenment, not mantras which has its origin in Tantric paractices nor dharanis which are part of Mahayana practices. Mantras and Dharanis are methods used to focus the Mind and in more subtle spiritual intent to invoke spiritual protection. Samadi, the one-pointed (mental) concentration is part of the 8-Fold Path. To be awaken or enlightened, the practitioner must know the reason why and the object of attaining The 'Awakening' or Enlightenment. This (Buddhist) Enlightenment is very different from the Daoist perspective. 2. Is this a recognized method? Is anyone here following this method, and would you be willing to discuss it? Answer: From my view-point and trust that it is also that of the Theravadins, being attached to mantra-chanting as the main cultivation practice is not a recognized method. You should proceed to study the basic, and most original teaching of the Buddha to know why mantras nor dharanis are not methods to attain Buddha-hood. 3. Which branches of Buddhism practice Mantra and Dharani Samadhi as an enlightenment method? How does this work? Answer: All major main-stream branches of Buddhism practise samadhi or one-pointed concentration, and chant mantras/dharanis(Mahayana sects) and Mahaparitas (Theravada sects). To answer your 2nd question, I shall quote a text from 'The Great Book of Protections' or Ctubhanavarapali Maha Pirit Pota: "(Dharanis or) Spells form an important part of popular Buddhism; but they have nothing in themselves peculiarly characteristic of Buddhism. They are a form of sympathetic magic, which consists in asserting (along with certain ritual actions), that a certain wished event is taking place and by the power of the word it is supposed that if every detail is properly performed the event does happen." - Edward J. Thomas (History of Buddhist Thought). 4. How does such practice transform or destroy akusala karma? Answer: Akusala kamma (sanskrit, karma) are 'unwholesome' kamma. To destroy or suppress the fruition of unwholesome kamma depends upon how to suppress it with kusala kamma (wholesome kamma), and how 'weighty' is the unwholesome kamma. There are 5 weighty akusala kamma that can't be suppressed: killing of father, mother, holy-man, arahant, and Buddha. Akusala kamma cannot be eradicated nor suppressed and the best way is the practise of Perfections (Paramittas) to improve one's store of kusala kamma. To begin the understanding of what is karma (pali, kamma), study the Dependent Origination, and understand how karma is formed/originated, and how rebirth is conditioned. In conclusion, by fervent chanting of sutras (or suttas), or mantras cannot destroy akusala karma, and you need to acquire and practise the Buddha-Dhamma knowledge and wisdom, and put in effort in its practice and samadhi to begin your journey of emanicipation. Knowledge, Wisdom and Effort are the three-part process of the 8-Fold Path. There is no short-cut.

Good morning, today is the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Cockrel and I will like to wish everyone here a Happy Lunar New Year. This thread on 'Yuanqi' is fast approaching the next subject, Yuan Shen. And as @YiYinYang quoted in the previous posting "Qian changes into Li and Kun into Kan, it causes Shen to exit and Qi to move, then the breath cannot be preserved inside the embryo anymore." (when the child is born, and the kua changes?). Meanwhile, lets wait for a few more days to wrap up this thread. So far, the discussion on this topic is pretty interesting with some playing the devil's advocate, and sometimes with some flare-ups that might get the moderators involved, but they stayed their hands. We have learnt, and certainly I have, thank you so much guys!

This is a cut and paste from a posting on "Ming stages/Replenishing Yangqi/Ming Gong" by SeekerofHealing: Posted 17 January 2017 - 02:07 AM Quote: I mean here to cultivating yuan qi generally. The production of the primordial qi The primordial qi mainly comes from kidney-qi of the parents during pregnancy. That is why TCM usually calls the primordial qi "the congenital qi". The power and quantity of the primordial qi are already fixed after birth. However, after birth the primordial qi still needs further nourishment and enrichment to enable it to be distributed to the whole body and to exert normal physiological effect. The primordial qi transformed from food nutrients provided by the spleen and stomach is called "acquired qi". The distribution of the primordial qi The primordial qi is stored in the kidney and distributed to all parts of the body through the triple energizer. The primordial qi transformed from food nutrients provided by the spleen and stomach must be stored in the kidney so that it can be distributed to the whole body. Though the primordial qi is distributed to all parts of the body, it originates from the kidney. The functional characteristics of the primordial qi The primordial qi shares the common functions of qi, such as propelling, warming, protecting, fixating and qi-transforming, etc. The functions of the primordial qi are different if its location is different. The characteristics of the primordial qi in the kidney include three aspects: to promote the growth and development of the body and maintain reproductive functions of the body; to promote qi transformation to regulate water metabolism and excretion of urine; to fixate sperm and inhaled fresh air to ensure the functions of the kidney to store essence and receive qi. The primordial qi distributed to all parts of the body warms and promotes all the viscera so as to bring their physiological functions into full play. For example, the spleen governs transportation and transformation; the lung governs respiration; the heart dominates blood; the liver controls dredging and dispersing; the stomach is responsible for reception ancl digestion, etc. These are all the concrete manifestations of the effect of the primordial qi on the viscera. Thus the primordial qi is the vital qi in the body and is the motivation of all life activities. The state of the primordial qi decides the state of life. Unquote

@YiYiyang, the trigram provided by you in thread #19 is a pre-heaven (xian-tien, pre-creation) arrangement and will and should change when the child is born. Inotherwords, this pre-heaven trigram is pre-birth destiny and will be modified by factors beyond control of both mother and child, for instance, diseases and DNA. On another note, this trigram shows the progressive increase and depletion of yangqi of a person from birth yet, I will presume that the increase of yuanqi after birth which you seek to explain with this illustration is due to the expansion of yangqi until the zenith at age 16, kian-qua after which, the yin-energy begins its ascendence, and the person begins to age. It does not explain how a child could absorb yuanqi, the question that Wells was putting forward. I don't think that the Baqua lines represent yuanqi.

@LaoZiDao, thank you for the second posting of another Wu-Liu P'ai's link. This time is about the 'Heavenly Cycle' practised by Qigong practitioners. It mentioned 'sweet dew' and 'true seed'. As I understand Qigong, there are 4 major types and not all instruct the students to use 'heavenly cycle', aka mco, as the standard breathing methodology. A typical Daoist Qigong will be in-line with such an assertion and various systems within this category are (far) removed from 'daoist religious ovetones' unless the qigong teachers are immersed in daoist religious thoughts. Having said that, within the ambit of Daoist Qigong, the sweet dew is understood as salvia that fills the mouth during qigong practise, and true seed, the qi in the dan-tien. I know that such understanding may be corruptions of the original explanations, but Daoist Qigong is not Daoism.

Coming back to the question to the finity of yuanqi, the TCM link posted by YiYinYiYang has this postulation from the first section of the video: 1. Yuanqi will wane with age, and the person will physically grow old as the yuanqi depletes. 2. If a woman in her prime when her yuanqi is still strong will still look good (I suppose, young as well) even though (she) has given birth. her child will be strong (and will live longer) as well. However, if child-birth has taken place while her yuanqi is weak (when she is matured woman, 40-45 years old), her child will be weak (and perhaps has a short life-span) and herself, age faster (biologically). In Singapore, there is a common observation that the older generation of Chinese people were stronger and abled physically even at ripe old age of 80 when compared to (local born) 3rd-4th generation of Chinese Singaporeans. The major difference is that those from China were born to parents who married at age 18-20 years old (a norm, during the early 20th centruy). From this understanding, a person and his/her yuanqi is like that of the 4 seasons, Spring; young, full of vitality, and comes to Autumn, matured, aged, and weak. In this sense, yuanqi is finite, but the energy can be compromised with varying degrees from extreme physical conditions like child-birth. There are other destructive ways in which yuanqi can be harmed, insomnia, alcoholism and drug addiction are some ways that the energy can be harmed and caused it to be depleted.

@YiYinYang, thank you for recommending the link...but couldn't finish till the end. Will watch it when I have more time...it is interesting to know how the dual energies interact and its causal effects. @Wells, you have indeed made a valid point about the finite (and measureable?) amount of yuanqi a person has,if indeed it is finite. Perhaps the link that YiYinYang provided may hold the answer. Or members in TDB may be able to provide more insights into this yuanqi. Thank you, Wells. Leading questions: 1. Is yuanqi finite? 2. And especially in mothers when this energy is passed to the foetus, will the mother suffers a loss of her yuanqi? 3. From the perspective of TCM, is yuanqi irreplaceable and therefore unlikely to be replenished? There are qi-tonic herbal formulations specifically for mothers after child-birth and what qi is being tonified if it is not yuanqi? However, if it is yuanqi that is tonified and strengthened, then it can also be replenished. If you are answering by only posting a link, you will be helpful to include a summary or synopsis of the video/article. Thank you all.

@LaoZiDao, Thank you. I had visited the links you proposed. I had a good read from the perspective of a traditional Daoist viewpoint on Life, Death and 'reincarnation' (as opposed to rebirth, in a Buddhist sense), thank you. Generally, its comment on qigong is correct about the small heavenly cycle, mco within the scope of comments I read in TDB, because daoist qigong do include macro-cosmic orbit, the large heavenly cycle so to speak but is seldom mentioned in TDB. The emphasis in Daoist Qigong is not the tranmission of Dao and so devoid of Daoist terminology, like yao,oven, and fire, but the absence will not degrade Qigong into a inferior practice. Quieting and calming the Mind does not mean the meditator has attained enlightenment, far from it, from the Buddhist angle, and I'm sure that members of the Ch'an sect of Buddhism will agree with me on this. Though the school, Wu-Liu P'ai considers its teaching to be a mix of both Daoist and Buddhist teachings, after reading the two main pages of the links, my humble opinion is that there are the above contradictions which need some careful after-thought.

@Fa Xin, most of the Daoist qigong systems with heavy religious over-tones require the practitioner to either chant a 'mantra', swallow a talisman or live in accordance to religious tenents with the object of connecting to the 'universal life force' or seek spiritual guidance from an immortal, a xian-ren. Personally I do not know much of this Peng Gu Shen Gong and had viewed the movements in the internet. What I saw was some typical daoist qigong movements quite similar to what I practised and nothing 'mystical'. However, I can't discount the fact that moral living is a precursor to getting spiritual guidance or advancing to converting qi to shen and you could be right about the password/maxim.

Quite right, Marblehead, the word Buddha means The Awakened One, the word 'enlightened' though seemed to be the popular term to describe the attainment. Whether Buddha-hood is the potential to be awakened or enlightened, the question, I suppose where the difference lies with Daoism, is wakened or enlightened from what. In Daoism, there is a primodial spirit, yuan-shen, then there is a 'san wen' roughly meaning three souls, and qi-pa, seven sensations(?), all these forming a single soul. The daoists in this cirlce should be able to correct my gross misconception in this. On the other hand, in Buddhism there is no soul, no spirit, just a consciousness, perhaps as some will say, it is merely semantics.

@Damdao, metaphorically there are "many layers" as you said, perhaps in one's mind, that needs to be stripped away to expose the 'original self'. The 'who am I?' question or the 'who is chanting the Buddha's name?' are C'han instruments to trigger a different mental wave-length leading to Enlightenment perhaps in one's life-time. The whys rebirth takes place is very much covered within the Buddha-Dhamma on Dependent Origination. Therefore, to gain enlightenment, the process of Dependent Origination has to be interrupted. Stopping weighty karmas by earning good karmas with the practise of perfections (paramittas) are important to all Buddhists. Thus, quite right that someone had pointed out that there is a 'gradual' process leading up to the right moment for the aspirant to gain Enlightenment, and the Buddha or Ananda are the perfect examples in this case. On the other hand, after reading these many posts on this thread, I feel that there is a divide between what a Buddhist understands what Enlightenment is about, (of course within the context of Buddhism) with what a Daoist will mean with Enlightenment, sudden or otherwise.