funkytortoise

i would also like to know if we can let friends and relatives borrow the dvds and suggest ways to make the exercises easier if they need it. also, what is the significance of the right over left dan-tien hand position? why does the left hand hold the right? would this be the same concept as the bending down and going to the right then left then right of "wind above the clouds?"

art, i have yin and yang tattoos on my forearms describing exactly what you're talking about. i knew it would when i saw the topic. thought it was cool.

i would have to say read, meditate, get on tao bums, or some other way of forgetting about it. or hide?

marijuana isn't NEARLY as addicting as tobacco or even caffeine. it's not even physically addictive. for instance, i love smoking weed, and did so about once or twice a day for three years. i only did it with my friends or because i was bored. but i quit like presto because i want to get a job. with weed, it really is completely in your head. nicotine- i've been smoking cigs for over a year. i've quit several times. i'm quitting again today because i'm all out and going broke. things that help get over it are establishing distractions and drinking tea. i'm definitely going to try that energy transformation trick. but with any method of quitting, it comes down to whether or not you actually want to quit. i don't. i enjoy the taste of my all natural cigarettes and i'll probably buy a pack eventually.

tao doesn't identify. it just is. it doesn't focus on form, but forms come out of it automatically. i hope we all lose ego at some point so humanity can come together and end this nonsense. what i'm saying is, we are limiting ourselves by staying selfish. "i" think to move from the idea of "facts" (tangible matter and everyday reality) to the idea of "possibilities" (awareness) definitely has something to do with enlightenment.

http://freerice.com/index.php an fun vocabulary (or foreign language, math, etc. if you change the settings) game that donates rice to the needy through sponsorship. this thread reminded me of it. i will now play it every time i'm online like i used to.

as far as reincarnation goes, we're all immortal. i know you guys may not agree with it, but i believe that we're all spirits in human bodies. it's kind of like we're sentences having a conversation with the rest of everything, and once we die, our opinion goes unsaid until we're reborn. and then, whether in the same form or another, our idea comes up again.

the i ching is some crazy shit. anyone who's obsessive should just stay away from it. it'll just leave you wondering and getting depressed when you should have been out living life. whether you try to predict the future with the i ching or anything else, or you actually go about creating reality: it's the same thing. just the second option makes you feel a lot better about yourself. but then again, i don't think most people would have the same reaction to it that i do.

the schools i'm applying for a masters in tcm at (five branches and berkely) only require two years of college. i've already finished one year. i took mostly art and psychology, but this year i'm going to take biology and some other things that would be helpful. i'm hoping that learning kung fu and cantonese will look good when i apply.

sounds like a good idea. i tried some iron shirt breathing today. it felt good, i'm not gonna lie.

i believe that the dantian is under the navel an inch or two, but it's not a fixed point, more like a whole area. it's your sea of chi. a lot of your vital organs are situated in and around the dantian and it's also your center of gravity.

*threat i agree, there is no ideal situation, but there is an ideal outcome.

i've been interested in taoism since i read the tao of pooh in tenth grade. since then, i've ended my relationship with christianity and now i consider myself a taoist. for the most part, i'm planning on getting a certification in qigong and chinese nutrition. it's either that or college. i'm learning wing chun kung fu. how's it going?

someone mentioned ving tsun (wing chun). i can personally say that it is a very effective fighting style. in training, the first thing that is taught is the horse stance. for the first, say, year or two, most of the training is done in this posture. when you learn how to relax into the stance, you are more able to defend your center, but even more importantly, attack in a forward motion. the ideal situation in a fight is to neutralize the thread as soon as it is presented- getting right in their face before they knew what happened. it does remind me a lot of tai chi. balance and relaxation are key parts of becoming a better fighter. since ving tsun originated in the shaolin temple, it does show some of the ch'an principles. everything comes to one point- like a wedge. bad guy- X ving tsun guy- ^ it's amazing to watch my sifu. all it takes for him to steamroll someone is to take a step forward.