soaring crane

hmmm... good stuff. Thanks, Bob :-) I unfortunately have a few people in my family (in-laws) who always play the blame game. Any time there's any kind of discord or disagreement, something gone kaputt, their first concern is always deflecting the blame to someone else. It's really impossible to discuss things with them and I hate it. I really hate it However, I'm good at sidestepping these things and deflecting the deflections. We have a saying here in Oberfanken: "Du hast dei Recht und ich hab mei Ruh". Translation: "You have your puffed-up sanctimonious satisfaction, and I have my peace of mind". Or, in the short form: "You're right and I'm happy" Been married to the same woman almost thirty years now. That's the secret

For the record, I generally don't look people in the eyes under normal circumstances. It's agressive and sensual. So, unless I want to start a war with you or, ahem, I'm looking at your forehead. Or your chin.

sorry, that was a quick intuitive reply to Luke (and referring to you in the third person in your own thread seems pretty rude now, oops). Anyway, all I meant was that in those dynamic forms of meditation, Taiji, Bagua, Gongfu, Qigong, and also the physical acts described by Luke (especially the Zhan Zhuang, imo), the momevent is the master. The posture is all there is. There's nothing else to learn. All those great masters haven't mastered anything. They've simply emptied themselves so completely that they've been mastered by their art. That's why I said mastering Taiji and Co. requires a mind like the one you're looking for. In order to go through a set of Bagua Palms (taking an example you're familir with) correctly, you have to let the Bagua Palms unfold themselves through you. The more of your ego you can peel away, the purer and more fluid the form becomes. The beauty and elegance of these systems is that, through simply focussing on the form, the other developments occur all on their own, over time, as is proper. And the more you practice, the more the peeling away of the ego funnels into your everyday Chris. It just happens. All you need is the desire, and the discipline (which you'll need regardless of the path you take; there are no easy paths here, and no one selling you magic coins that make it all happen). Bagua is a big challenge, but there are many more approachable alternatives out there. All you need is someone who has peeled enough of his/her ego away to show you how it's done i.e. a decent teacher.

he's kind of a self-promoter and a professional troll. He's brilliant, no argument, but doesn't get much respect from his peers because his main objective is usually pushing his personal politics (which I actually agree with, but prefer to have supported by more objective researchers).

Gerhard Schroeder?

I didn't read much of the article (because reading a Jared Diamond piece means searching for all the better-informed voices on the topic) but want to point out that agriculture wasn't an invention. It was a development, made neccessary by changing climatic conditions. If humans are anything, we're adaptable. If it wasn't agriculture, it would have been something else.

ok, so, you in fact were not wearing your pink My Little Pony costume at the time of this encounter, is that correct? Other than that, I dunnno.

yessss, Luke.... so elegant, so simple. Too simple for so many people. To master those things, and the movements in Taiji and Co., requires a mind like that described in the OP. That's why I suggested it. I get the feeling that Chris is ready to accept someone who promises something that's been accompanying him all along.

well, I would say don't underestimate the value of Taiji (or similar qigong long-forms that require a lot of dedication to master).

Do you mean a book? Or something else?

Some more thoughts: I have a great feeling about you Try to avoid giving people complex moves and sequences too early. Insist that they master the basics. Go over basic posture and opening movements again and again. You may find yourself feeling a little insecure and worried that you're not giving them enough, but they'll get a lot more out of the sessions, and mature into the Taiji at a balanced pace. Be sure to always insist that they see the instruction holistically.

can you give some details on how to identify whether a teaching is "high level" or not?

Hello Amurite, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

Hello RamMan, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us, I hope you get some answers! Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TTB team

What and where?

why does he need my email address?

Hello liz, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us, see the special note at the bottom of my message :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

follow the link at the youtube page: Master Lin specifically selected “A Prayer for All Living Being” as a perfect gift for you in this the season of peace and love. You can download this chant at: (I don't know, either)

they mean, I think, the vibration from the fact of the sound's existence in the universe. The file is playing, but the phone is silent, the sound is off. I think it's probably self-fulfilling wishes, but they're pretty effective medicine in their own right. Maybe the most effective of all, because they truly come from within.

enlightened and immortal aren't the same thing. Neigong isn't zen. It isn't Buddhist, either, and it's not going to happen on a jetski.

One of the common confounding factors in this debate is the that both types of physician only see the other's basket cases, and draw their conclusions based on empircism. They're both wrong. However, arrogant, sadistic surgeons tend to be wrong more often than most, and the world really doesn't need any more of them. For me, it's natural medicine (which is very, very common here and the number of practitioners very large) unless it's an emergency. That's about it. Last year, I was having sudden stroke-like symptoms, on a Sunday evening, and my wife called the emergency services. The EMTs were at the house in ten minutes, had me in the ambulance five minutes later where the doctor was already doing tests on the ride to the hospital. I had a video interview with a neurologist from Erlangen University at 3am, and every imaginable test performed within the next 12 hours... turned out to be nothing, possibly a migraine, but with a couple unexplainable symptoms (pulse was under 30bpm and BP was almost non-existent). I was home and feeling normal on Tuesday (no out of pocket costs here, btw, just sayin). So ... I went to my Heilpraktikerin (female naturopath) with the story. She tested me kinesiologically (among other methods including iris and tongue diagnosis), concluded the same thing the hospital had said, gave me a few strengthening tinctures (hawthorn and combi-preparation of her own design) and sent me home. She gets €50 per consultation, because her work isn't covered by my standard insurance. (Her diagnosis work takes over an hour, and she also does a lot of manual therapy in the process, so, it's worth it). So, that one was a draw, I'd say. That next one wasn't. I was having shoulder problems, and long story short, the orthopedist sent me for an MRI. The report came back as calcification/rotator cuff. He read the radiology report, looked at me and said, "ok, you're getting an operation, you canmake an appointment at the desk". I basically said bullshit, you didn't even look at the pictures. He said he doesn't need to because everything he needs to know is in the report. I asked him to humor me and he made a big production of actually having to the insert the CD into his computer and scrolling through the images. "Oh, it's not as bad as it states in the report ... but you still need an OP. Either now, or in five years", was his new conclusion ... I said thanks, see you whenever, dude. Went my same naturopath. She checked me out thoroughly, said it's nothing but muscles tension, gave me two shots of procaine in the most painful spots, and my shoulder was free. Every trace of any pain was gone, and it's stayed gone to this day. That point goes to natural medicine, and if I were to tally up all of my experiences with western and natural medicine, I think the score might be something like twenty wins for natural medicine, three or four for western, and a couple draws. Btw, homeopathy is good medicine when applied correctly by a qualified (and sane) practitioner (which are unfortunately few and far between). The basic idea is simple -- introduce a substance that produces symptoms that are similar to the infliction that one wants to treat. The body immediately recognizes the presence of the substance (even if it's only a few molecules), and reacts accordingly. It's the symptoms that battle the infliction. But admittedly, there's a lot of nonesense and bluster in the homeopathic circles. They're even more militantly dogmatic and conservative than western physicians.

Yes! You're not the only one who sees that. It's part and parcel of online forums (and real life discussion) and I guess it just seems ironic when the subject is yin/yang?

about half of my father's collection landed in the museum at West Point. The illegal half...

That's a generous offer, Manitou. My father is an actual collector of that stuff, but he's only interested in German military. I grew up is a pretty strange household. I'm only sharing the information, not asking to receive anything.

thesauraus.com is a lot of fun! But, I'm more than a little amazed astonished bewildered confused dismayed floored overwhelmed shocked speechless startled surprised astounded confounded dumbfounded flabbergasted frozen numb overcome stumped stupefied aghast blown away bowled over breathless taken aback at the amount of work you put into that post. Bravo!