Seatle185

Welcome, happy to have you

It actually does come from flying phoenix. have fun

I think one problem is you become attached to the things you hear or see too much that is why you get lost in music or t.v. you end up obsessing over it.. and forceful "retention" or abstinence is obsessing too, just the opposite direction (worse in my opinion because when you try to forcefully quit something all your mind does is think about it.). One of my teachers said it isn't the pleasure that is the problem, it is the obsessive attachment to the pleasure thats the big problem. Karen makes some good points. Alot of people have trouble understanding myself including, but i dont think the classics meant to cut yourself off from all external stimuli ( could be wrong...) otherwise might as well stab your eyes out and seal your ears and nose. It is learning to not obsess over them and keeping your center. Anyways i dont know just putting some of my thoughts out there for you. And in my opinion dont feel bad for enjoying music.. alot of our old cultures felt spiritual connection to music, daoists including, and even if we are talking about the hermits living all alone in the mountains, they revel in the music of nature.

Yeah i cook with some meat on it, when your cooking broth the idea is to strain everything out from the liquid at the end because all the nutrients have transfered from the bones (and meat) into the liquid so while you could still eat the meat most of the times you dispose of it with the bones

I have soup every day and almost every day it includes bone broth. Its actually not that hard once you figure the timing out. Bone broth can be cooking in the back ground in a crockpot with very little effort required to make. (And its cheap) It just takes time. When its finished you will have enough for a while, just freeze some and it will last a very long time. In the fridge it will last at least a week.

Actually 24 hours is the very least amount. When cooking bone broth i will go up to 48 hours. You can do it less i guess, but that would be wasting some of the valuable nutrients you could extract. It takes a long time to break down the bones unfortunately. If you cant wait, you can try to find some broth at a farmers market or somewhere. Most store bought broth is really bad and unhealthy but i have bought good broth from local farmers that cook it right.

Vegetable Soups and broths i have found are great for the stomach/digestion. Cinnamon,ginger and turmeric i feel are good for it.. now some great things you can have are fermented foods - like kombucha and pu-erh tea i have had really good results when having after a heavy/greasy meal. There are probobly plenty more herbs and foods i dont know about that is good for it but these are just a few suggestions i have had good results with.. good luck

I read the free sample from amazon a while back, and its pretty interesting. It just talked about his childhood years and when he first got into the arts. I like books like this, i find them really inspiring and entertaining, however for 40 $ (kindle version) i never bought the full book.. i dont know, if they are having a good sale it might be better to put that money towards buying one of his huge textbooks. Thanks for the link, your right they do have alot of interesting stuff!

Hello julia, im from austin too, and was searching for something similar to you. I guess my first recomendation based on what you said would be shengzhen because it focuses alot on the spiritual side of things and theres no focus on martial art at all just healing. https://shengzhen.org/ The other guys i have studied with here are actually all internal martial artists but place alot of emphasis on the qigong and internal development. I originally wasnt interested in the martial arts much, mainly the qigong too, but i now have a really deep appreciation for the balanced approach they take. And if you dont want to partake in sparring you really dont have to.. In case your curious ill list: http://www.taichiimmortal.com/ - he teaches outside in the park near 35th- shoel creek street. The good things with him is he is relatively cheap compared to other places, he is a tcm practitioner and has a clinic with alot of experience in case your ever in need of assistance there.. everyone in the class is really nice. Not as heavy into the martial side of it but it is there. And there are really great people who teach distance lessons as was mentioned if nothing you see resonates with you in town.. As for beginner books for qigong i guess i would recomend - opening the energy gates by bruce frantzis - inside zhan zhuang by mark cohen - tao: the way of god, and chi: discovering your life energy by waysun liao Hope it helps some.

Welcome, good to have you

I dont know if they are or not for sure, but even in the "official" bible there are plenty of contradictions.. one verse has always stood out to me in the book of matthew: "He answered and said unto them (the deciples) , Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." He only taught the "mysteries" to his deciples but to everyone else he spoke parables so it makes sense to me that the thomas gospel might contradict. We also have to remember that the church wanted power over the people, they wanted everyone to come to THEM for salvation, if all the people were able to find it on their own there would be no need for a church. Since the gospel of thomas is about finding salvation on this earth, i can see why the church would try to say it is a false doctrine. So ultimately i dont know either, but i personally think the gnostic texts have good insights even if they are writings of "heritics".

Hey i feel the same way both instruments/music and painting and art. In fact that is one of the reasons i was led to meditation in the first place, because i wanted to figure out how to get to and be in that timeless almost formless place where the ego isn't constantly pestering all the time! Haha.

that one i like too, and i like how he included the ideograms. I liked hearing his personal story at the begining too. The one i reach for first is always the taoist i ching by yiming and cleary, but ill read from a few others too. A suggestion i found helpful in that translation is when you are begining to study the trigrams first and then look at one hexagram each day and just ponder it all day to let it soak in.

Thanks for the thread, im interested in the subject too..There are a few other threads here that discuss collodial and monoatomic gold you may find interesting. When setting gemstones the type of metal to set the gems in was said to be important. The different metals could enhance or negate certain planets influence. As has already been mentioned as to the chinese medicine perspective i read that gold was thought to be tonifying while silver was dispersing. Though i havent studied it in depth myself. i have personally supplemented with "ionic" copper and noticed increased energy in the time i took it, but i noticed only in small amounts is it good for me. Even though i think most of us are lacking in minerals these days I think its wise to start off small with any mineral. Iv thought about actually cooking with copper pots lately, but not decided yet. i think ill stick with my cast iron for now. As for the collodial silver, i have thought about it, but as was mentioned here and elsewhere, most of the store bought is more miss than hit as far as properly making a pure product and i dont trust myself making it at the moment. I have not tried adding silver into the kettle that is an interesting idea.. there was a time i had experimented with adding quartz and other safe stones into the tea with interesting effects. Would only feel safe with a few though.. I read reids book too and thought that method of putting the broken peices into the kettle was cool. I have been wanting to try the lava clay pots he promotes one day. Just expensive. And i have learned to be content with the small few yixing's i have, some of them are chipped, but they work!

Yes, that is why i listen more than i talk these days haha..that and i dont know much to begin with that need to be right is everywhere as far as i can see, no getting away from it. I come here for the same reason you do, and the ego can get in the way of that for me as well. For what its worth i enjoy your posts and hope you dont leave.

Thank you for the reminder! I often think, that the first step in any practice, no matter what tradition is trying to fully embody the earth trigram - complete openness, receptiveness, and humility. Which as mentioned, means forgetting everything you think you know. If needed it can be brought back, but in order to learn properly all the conflicting knowledge you may have learned in books or from other teachers needs to be put aside for the new material to really soak in in my opinion. And it gets harder the more you develop and progress actually, but to continue its all important

A nei dan teacher in my area that i talked to actually had a requirement to learn and practice taiji for at least 2-3 years before he would even teach them begining stages of nei dan. Thats just one man's opinion but it is what i have come to agree with now. Iv heard some say you dont need any kind of post heaven practice just jump straight into nei dan, but he found that most people had so many blockages and couldnt even quiet their mind for a few minutes so he made that requirement because taiji helps work through them in a unique way. And i dont know, maybe it was different in older times, people were more connected to the earth and their bodies, not as many distractions, maybe in that case there was no need for any post heaven practices. I actually practiced qigong with dedication for 2 years before i took up IMA with very little results. IMA started to open me up in a way qigong just didnt do by itself, and maybe it was just i needed the in person instruction, but when i visit the qigong now i can really feel the difference. But i am no expert. Taiji practiced correctly actually is neigong. traditionally IMA should focus on some physical conditioning, building awareness, relaxation, qigong and neigong, and even going into some nei dan. One of the reasons i really began to appreciate them is because they are well rounded systems. But then again, its getting harder to find the traditional IMAs . So from my understanding, jing in IMA means the same thing. The practices aim to cultivate all of the 3 treasures, jing included.but does taiji by itself work with jing in the same way nei dan does? No I dont think so, but it lays a good foundation for the later work.

Welcome. Love colorado! I also like my taiwanese tea and taiji Looking forward to hearing more

I dont have any direct experience with dragon tiger qigong but iv heard really great things about it.i would say sure ask him to teach you it and see how it compares, you could do both if you have the time too. Its always nice to have a teacher explaining and correcting every little thing when your learning something new because no bad habbits set in. My teacher actually had to correct quite a few mistakes i was unaware of on the brocades at first, because i also learned them from videos before i found my teacher. Let us know how you like it!

Was feeling very angry and unstable, almost sickly all weekend and practice seemed to be just going through the physical movements with very little energy. It was very hard to quiet the mind.. i just figured it was a personal imbalance or maybe because the moon was waning.. interesting to see so many others noticing things.. this morning and all today was great though felt like i picked up where i left off thursday haha

Great points ZYD. I dont know the exact pricing of JAJ's school myself, but i would imagine he would work with your financial situation if they see you are completely dedicated to the path and you actually come away with something. Just to become a practicing "traditional" chinese medicine doctor in the U.S. can be around 40,000 + dollars. And some of these graduates really havent scratched the tip of the iceburg as far as the whole system. Like orion mentioned, just because someone has certifications or degrees, doesnt mean that they are successful in their own practice. The teaching in most of the chinese medicine universities in the u.s. is lacking compared to the teacher student relationships in old china . But JAJ actually seems to be offering a much more complete system that is very unique here.. so those are a few considerations.

Great point. I think for some people that lifestyle is in line with the way. For most people though i would think it is unnatural. I would say most are just regular people in society who practice in their time alone. And at certain stages may go on an extended retreat but eventually come back and integrate back into society, holding on to what they've learned and keeping their center. It's easy to get rid of lust, anger, and greed when your completely removed from temptation. The real achievement in my opinion is being right in the midst of temptation and not being effected. Keeping your center no matter if your in the mountains in complete solitude or in the city with all its drama. Thats my opinion I guess there are different ways to look at it though.

Thank you

Hello friend and welcome. I was in a similar position as you. Dissillusioned by my religious upbringing and looking for something deeper. I also researched several different religions as much as i could and still do! I like a quote gandhi said when he was asked if he was a hindu and he said “Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.” what i took it to mean personally, is that any of the old spiritual traditions can be good paths if you are lucky to find sincere teachers and practitioners. Personally, having studied the bible for years, when i studied some of the scriptures from othe religions i thought these guys are on very similar paths, and have the same ultimate goal, but different methods to get there. Others im sure disagree but that is my understanding of it at the present moment. I guess if someone "forced" me to pick one i'd say daoist as most of my practices are daoist, and i find their teachings resonate with me most. But i keep an open mind with the others still, which is important (in my humble opinion) because some of the texts and practices from other religions will describe a certain process in greater clarity and perhaps from a different perspective. anyways i hope you enjoy your time here. There are alot of great and sincere people that can help you if you ask.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone here has studied this system in depth and wanted to share. I would love to hear about any type of resources you have found useful such as teachers, other practitioners, or books. So far the most in depth author i have read on the subject is y.m. Lim. He has a few books on it and a blog that is pretty interesting.