Aetherous

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Everything posted by Aetherous

  1. Food for thought

    My personal view is that a teacher should be paid for their time as well as their quality. If they charge more than that, they're being greedy. Seems to me that anything up to 25 dollars per hour is acceptable, since that is the pay for a typical job these days. If the teacher is kind, they will just do minimum wage. If you are close to them, they may do it for free. Their experience and ability should play a role in how much they charge. Also, their fame. If many people are knocking on their door trying to learn, that means the demand is high and that they can raise prices (that they can doesn't mean that they should...they will be keeping some potentially great students away by charging too much). Just because the demand for that teacher is high, doesn't mean that they're good at teaching or that their methods are worthwhile. Lady Gaga is popular, but it's not like she's good in any way, shape or form. If a spiritual teacher doesn't charge you anything, how can you expect them to teach you anything? Most people these days have to make all sorts of payments. Rent, car, insurance, food, hospital, cell phone bill, etc. Spiritual teachers are no exception...unless they choose to be isolated, in an area where they can live for free, and survive off the land. But how could you ever find such a person? A spiritual teacher wants to spread what they know, in order to help people, not isolate themselves... Then, consider that they have a family or at least somewhat of a life. You're taking up their time. The most rewarding thing to them may be to help people change their lives for the better, through spirituality, so they may not care for money so much...but still, you have to consider that this is another human being. They also have their own practice. It's hard enough simply practicing your own style of meditation. Many people can't even find the time to do that. So to have a person juggle everything in their lives, in order to teach you for a low price or for free, is pretty amazing. Just my view.
  2. some favorite spots

    Gerard, Thank you for sharing all of these pictures! I often forget how amazing the Earth is. I should really move somewhere nice.
  3. Cigarettes

    Yes, that does happen for other things...but scientists can't simply come up with their results out of thin air. If they do, it won't be published! It's not a separate discussion...it is the topic of this thread. We're talking about whether smoking cigs is harmful, especially if there are Taoist or Chinese medicine views on it...we're not talking about brainwashing here. Also, my great grandmother smoked until she was 102. Doesn't mean it was good for her.
  4. Cigarettes

    Taomeow, I can easily find multiple peer reviewed studies showing how tobacco smoking is harmful. Just do a search for smoking in any database. Who cares if any study's funding can be traced to "big pharma"? It makes no difference whatsoever when these studies are actually reviewed and published. The results they get are legit. Are you actually attempting to make the argument that smoking isn't harmful?
  5. Couple practices

    Respect your partner's wishes if they choose not to be into cultivation. Anyway, my point was that most couple practices don't even work right if you haven't put in the time and effort yourself. For instance, someone mentioned the kunlun partner practice...if people are very sensitive they may notice a little bit, but you really have to be devoted to your own practice, and achieve a certain level in order for it to finally work. So for this reason I said one must be a self cultivator first before being a dual cultivator. Common sense, but yeah I was basically just making a joke.
  6. Couple practices

    Self cultivation.
  7. Taoist Physical Practices

    Yes, I've tried various methods. For people with low energy throughout their day, simply standing correctly in one posture for like 20 minutes will do the trick. At least that's my experience. When the legs are slightly bent it causes energy to collect in the lower dantien. You can assist this process by deep breathing in that area, as well as keeping your attention there. In this way it's like a meditation. There are various ways of using your hands in the posture, kind of like mudras. This is all dependent on which system you're practicing as well as what you're trying to accomplish in that system. It's good enough to just practice the "first position" in the Way of Energy book.
  8. Cigarettes

    I think smoking tobacco is definitely horrible. Tons of studies show that. But maybe tobacco isn't horrible in itself. How did you test this? What were the signs of producing high level jing?
  9. Over weight qigong masters?

    Yup!
  10. Lao Tzu wisdom

    Check out the Hua Hu Ching also. It's attributed to him...who knows if the same dude actually wrote it. But definitely a great book.
  11. Over weight qigong masters?

    If people only practice qigong and don't exercise, they will be in worse health than if they did both. Exercise is essential for everyone (at least 30 minutes a day of exercise), and qigong doesn't count as a form of exercise. Being overweight is scientifically shown to be harmful to one's health. If it's genetic, that person simply has to work harder to keep their weight down. Diet and exercise! Many qigong people avoid this, thinking that their practice will solve everything (myself included)...but in my experience this is really a mistake. We are not cultivating the body correctly by focusing solely on the qi.
  12. My view is that every opinion based on experience is legitimate and worth considering. Maybe there actually are some negatives with qigong-type arts, depending on how you look at things. Maybe our opinions will change later as we gain more experience.
  13. "Immortals should..." Nope.
  14. An interview with Kan

    Hahaha, speaking the truth!
  15. Taoist Physical Practices

    Zhan zhuang, standing. Check out the book Way of Energy for details (personally I found a download for it...bad Scotty! ). Practice.
  16. Cool, I enjoyed reading that.
  17. What would you expect to see of a Taoist immortal?
  18. Money Karma?

    Simple: apply to more jobs. It's unfortunate that 2 places are dicking you around, but that's what happens sometimes to everyone, especially these days. You don't have bad money karma. So just keep trying. I know you would rather hear some mystical explanation, but it really comes down to trying harder. You shouldn't be satisfied with crappy jobs like pizza delivery...keep looking and putting yourself out there while you work those jobs.
  19. So Kunlun Nei Gung

    It seems to me that the opposite is true. Unless one is practicing forcefully.
  20. Prediction of 2011

    Freaky!
  21. OK Fellow Daoists and Taoists

    Taking away someone's voice is the cruelest thing, but most don't realize it.
  22. So Kunlun Nei Gung

    Levels 1-2-3 are from Jenny, as is said on her website. Max learned them, and after some years, and put them in his book. He didn't add them or create them.