YMWong

Pietro, for your info China DOES NOT have compulsory military service. The other way round in fact, many young men try to get into the army to get a 'regularly paid job' but are not admitted. Some stay in the army only for 2-3 years to leave and find the job as private guard or the likes. YM

... With all respect for Eva Wong, whose books are enjoyable, this information is IMO far from accurate. The 'Xiantian Wuji' Sect is the line her late teacher - Moy Lin Shin - claimed (falsely) to be lineage holder. The late Master Moy was only briefly related to a group here in HK who practiced in that line, let alone claiming to be the real holders of the lineage. So, unless she has then found somebody else from that same line for further studies, she can hardly be even related to the sect ... Oh well ... YM

Which one, title ? YM

Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts YM

I don't know of course about the specific subject but historically speaking this kind of knowledge is transmitted in mainly three-four ways: - by Dao itself --- that's mostly the case of the early proto-daoist mystics - by Revelation --- most of the early Daoist schools belong to this kind of transmission - by a Master --- who received them from a line of transmission usually coming from the first two cases + - by experience --- this is of course already present in the first three cases but can be, in a few cases, the main vehicle of discovery There is not a *unique Way*, every school will have their systems and some can be contradictory. They make sense however in the complete system as it is transmitted and practiced. The five stars, for example, appear in the body at various locations. I have learned systems that have them envisionned in contradictory places, but I know by experience that they all *work* IF the complete system is learned from somebody who knows it. Reality is subjective, I guess, and this is partially so also for higher realities YM

Scotty, the Daoist view of 'things' is that they all are the condensation of various kinds of energy (qi): same kind of energy creates different 'things' that remain, however, somehow connected. So our microcosm is connected with various things in the macrocosm, things that resonate with each other. During (daoist) practice we have to get to the real substance of things, back to the beginning of things, and this is where the "purpouse of doing that" stands. Best YM

Nothing in particular, just posting info that some might find interesting. Given that the importance of Scriptures has been debated here before and that many seemed to view hands-on transmission as the ONLY thing necessary, I thought this article might give some background as to why - in Daoism - Scriptures are considered equally necessary, together with Dao and (a) Master. Most of what is written in this article, in my opinion, is not only scholarly well researched but it is also accurate from the point of view of the Tradition YM

I am not sure, I'll have to ask next time I have the chance, but I would guess that sun and moon are the higher and lower vertebrae YM

Interesting dream. The connection is done in certain schools with the five (major) planets + sun and moon and in this case there is a direct link with your dream. Good ! YM Sorry but this is not the system we use so I am not able to give precise details. I have heard various teachers explaining this among the "other" systems of embodying the stars and I am quite sure I also read about it, but at present cannot recall where. YM

In Daoism they are generally connected to the seven stars of Ursa Major. There are practices to enbody the stars and, in the various lineages, they can be transposed to various parts of the body - the seven vertebrae are often considered. YM

http://72.14.235.104/translate_c?hl=zh-TW&...-YVG6-stn8HNPHg http://72.14.235.104/translate_c?hl=zh-TW&...RZXaeQalIhDYohQ http://72.14.235.104/translate_c?hl=zh-TW&...rzAyrEnRTQn1YDg http://72.14.235.104/translate_c?hl=zh-TW&...eGzQCbpQkG0Bptw http://72.14.235.104/translate_c?hl=zh-TW&...Y1jRvDj2IjlwU9A YM

Read some Daoist history and you will see that many Daost teachers of the past had a HUGE following of disciples and students and part of the transmission was done 'public', similarly to what WLP does in his seminars. Again, it was NEVER a secret for those involved, most of which got into it through 'public' means. There is, needless to say, public and private material but the same is true for nowadays Daoists. What you see/hear/read from the web is of course the public side. YM

Just like in any other walks of life it is not the subject that has changed but the spread of information about it. Wang Liping - to name one - has been openly teaching to HUGE groups of people for years, *you* simply didn't know because there was no 'taobums forum' or the internet to inform you. A "secret" is so only for one who doesn't know it YM EDIT: BTW, purchasing the recipe book doesn't necessarily enable one to be/become a successfull cook.

WLP's other book Da Dao Xing (大道行) - which has been translated by Cleary - is now available here https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y2orQk13cG9nYU0wTVE9PQ If somebody cannot make it in time for the download feel free to drop me an email and I will forward the PDF file, which is less then 6MB in size only. YM

WLP's book "Xing Da Dao" (行大道) is already available online here http://fliiby.com/file/77883/axykja3sjy.html and can be downloaded as PDF file by simply choosing "download" on the same page. I'll try to upload the other somewhere this couple of days. YM

This is the original sketch of the device Kidding aside, I guess this stuff was discussed at the times of DVerdesi's and his zapping teacher in Anhui. One of the (ex) disciples of the 'grandmaster' explained the trick on a newspaper article. YM

Yes, but Patrick seems to be able to stand back again YM

Can you quote the exact reference ? Same as above, thank you, and ... "many" ? ] Yes, of course, this is true in a way but that doesn't mean one does not need a teacher ZSF was born 1247 and most of his biographies give precise details of his background and his teachers. Besides, he was a blood descendants of Zhang Daoling of the Heavenly Masters Sect. YM

Darin, there is no Daoism without a teacher. Daoism is a tradition orally transmitted from master to student. When a student is accepted into a specific lineage a ritual is performed in which the master *introduces* the student to the Daoist Pantheon and to the lines of masters he is going to belong to. A new name is also given. That's the ONLY way for a common person, in Daoism, to be able to be 'known' by the "higher beings" (call them divinities, higher energies or whatever you like) that may guide the newcomer on the Path. At the time of ordination the students vows are to the "Three Treasures" that are: - Dao (itself) - Master (and the line of transmission) - Classics (the object of transmission Zhang Sanfeng, by the way, was an ordained Daoist Monk in various lineages before creating his own school and had LOTS of masters. YM

MPWay your speak my mind and it's good to see that not everybody has lost some good old common sense here. Unfortunately most of the 'believers' would swear - first of all to themselves - of having seeing Max passing through the walls even after having helped him opening the door. After all, he is only one of a long list of people that fulfill a need for some with a certain mind. YM

a quote from 5elementtao: and one by SJ: YM