Junbao

Yes I agree, and also the part about reverse breathing.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Sean and thanks also to Chunyi Lin. Very inspiring and yes, he mentions opening the heart to giving and receiving unconditional love several times during the interview as well as one of the three things people can do regardless of any system they practice. Great interview and great way to kick off my day! Thanks!

Hi Sifu Terry! I have had a recent change in my energy over the past few days and was hoping to get some questions to you regarding this. A few days ago my FP practice was MHP, then the warm up with the hands facing above the knees (50, 10 ,50), and then MSW #3. During MHP I first felt the sensation I had before where my sense of body and direction dissolved, which MHP seems to do for me nicely. Then something new happened where I felt some sense of I guess what might be my energetic body shifting, solidifying, and then shifting again. I might not be describing this quite right but it's the best I can think of. It was no biggie and subtle but I noticed it. After MHP and the other two meds, the rest of the day my energy was doubled at least, but not in the up all night can't sleep kind of way. Things were just more effortless. The thing is it's a bit uncomfortable such a sudden change. Not terrible but not as relaxed feeling as I was before. I was wondering if the stillness meds are more for building and the meds in motion for circulating? I only do one standing med per day and hold it for about 15 - 20 min, and do 1 MSW med and WTTT. IDK if I should back off the stillness ones for now and just focus on circulating till things balance back out again? Or maybe it's a particular med that my body responds to this way? Also I have been feeling some stagnation in the lower dan tien along with some heartburn although that could be totally unrelated. There is a bit of energy stuck around the top of the neck/shoulder blades area too. In your reply to Christoph the other day you mention BTB, WAC, and WTTT are all good for circulating the energy, so I am working with those. In regards to WAC...well from what I understand WTTT is a longer form that is done only once per breathing sequence? And BTB can be done several reps after the breathing sequence before closing. I'm not clear on WAC though if it is done only once after the breathing or can be done several times before closing. I still have not learned the second longer med on the third DVD. Perhaps it is time for me to put the other stuff on hold and work on that for a while? Whatever your recommendations would be based on my explanation here would be much appreciated. I was even considering going for the long standing med on DVD 4 but I think I might be best to finish DVD 3 first? I really am enjoying this practice a lot. Just need a little fine tuning for this new fuel my machine is running! Thanks and blessings! Junbao

Thanks for that tip, I have been just moving one to the next. :)

Hi Gauss, It sounds as though from your perspective things are always someones fault and it's never a question of Falun Dafa at all. I could be wrong but the way I read it was you believe that if the person is captured by police it is their karma or attachments that prompted this result? I could not tell if from there you were further suggesting that if were to come to signing a paper or death, that the person should not be attached to their life? I think if you were truly without attachments you could just sign the paper without attachment to it's meaning and then continue with your cultivation. It seems like the problem with this thinking is that you can use the idea of attachments and karma to justify or negate almost any circumstance. As in Seth's case, he did not like Falun Gong after a good go at it, so he must have attachments and poor enlightenment quality, and that is why he didn't get it. Another person reads the book and practices for a week and praises the practice. They must have a great enlightenment quality and a predestined relationship with Master and Falun. Ok but stick that Karma thing in your back pocket in case he quits or gets caught by police then we can just explain it away. It's like a set-up that once you buy into it can not fail. Just like the book and exercises draw you in, and then you are told you can't really progress until you join the cause and spread Falun Dafa to the world to save sentient beings (but shouldn't those people already be coming considering their predestined relationship?) and send forth righteous thoughts and pass out flyers or be in a parade. It's not so much for the good of all people as it is exclusively for Falun Dafa. But then you are told that Falun Dafa is really the only way to save people so why fight for anything else? Anyway just my thoughts this morning on this. To me it seems like a trap and does not let you think freely and that is my problem with it. I do respect you very much Gauss as I think you have been nothing but kind here and have been well tempered in making your arguments. You also have a strong conviction toward what you are doing and so long as that means becoming a better person it's good with me I'm not trying to change your mind or anything, just pointing out things the way they look to me.

Hi Gauss! I think it's neat that you have such a heart for cultivation. I don't agree with your school 100% but I think it's fantastic that you want to become the best person you can be. Not in the sense of accomplishments or material gain, but in how you treat yourself and others. My feeling is that with such a strong desire you don't need a master. There are many good teachers out there to help along the way and also you can be your own best teacher at times as well. It almost seems like the world you have come to live in is the vision that has been created by your master. He tells you and explains things to you as to how the world is and how the universe is and all the workings in between. To go with him means that you must wholeheartedly accept everything he tells you. I am sure this is something you are happy to do since it is your conviction that this is the way for you. It's like Li's writing about levels. You think one thing at one level, only to move up to the next and find that everything at the previous level was wrong. That is just like life and life's experiences. You think one thing is absolute and then something happens to alter your opinion of that thing and your thinking is tweaked a bit and you see things in a new way. You learn and move on. How can you know that what Li is saying is the absolute truth when (I can only assume) you don't believe you are at his level? You can't. You can have faith and trust and hope. I personally am a fan of tools. I know where I want to go and I like useful tools that will help me along the way. You learn something new, you give your best, and you keep it if it helps and toss if it does not. Either way you learned something from it. I don't like to be governed and I don't like to be told what to do. I am always happy to help if asked though. This is why I did not like Falun Gong once I got further into it. Anyway, I am not trying to make a point. It's just my opinion and who knows, it could change in the next day or two IDK what happened to Mel. All of her postings seemed so happy and playful, and then it seemed like things took a 180. I hope she is ok. Peace.

Hi Christoph! I will be happy to hear Sifu Terry's thoughts on this as well. Are you doing any of the Monk Serves Wine seated meds after the standing? I'm sure it's different for everyone but I find that doing one of the seated meds after one of the standing meds works to really calm and smooth everything out for me. It seems like the combo of sitting and slowwwwww relaxed movement really settle me in. Also on a side note I have noticed the slowness of the movements transferring to my Tai Chi practice and my time to do the CMC form has increased by about a third. The movements are also feeling more connected when I do the form after my FP practice. I felt like I was trying to cram to much in with FP since I was wanting to get all of them in during one session. I decided for the next little while to take it one by one. There are three standing meds for the three dantiens, and the three seated meds for Monk Serves Wine. Also there is WTTT from DVD 3 which is my favorite moving standing med. So I start with MHP and MSW #1 followed by WTTT, and I do that all on one day. Next day it's MGAP and MSW#2 and then WTTT. It's a three day cycle to move through the three standing and three sitting meds and then I begin again. This keeps me practicing them all, and gives me more quality time to work with and enjoy them all. Also I am doing three meds a day in a three day cycle which is fun because I like the number three a whole lot. I hope I am ok to practice this way. It feels like it is working out well so far.

Hi Mel! Just wanted to add my thoughts here since I have practiced this before. I agree, I did find the book very good and the teaching very good and the exercises very good too. However, when you get past that, to the heart of the "movement" that is Falun Gong, there is a whole lot I can just not understand or agree with. Once you get past the exercises and the book...well there is a long history there of Falun Gong in China and accusations of abuses and the leader Master Li had to leave and come to the US. Now there are accusations of members being tortured, jailed, and even harvested for body parts. IMO Falun Gong has come to the point where at its root it has become more about a crusade against persecution than about cultivation. In fact Li has gone from teaching only the exercises, to adding the teachings, and now according to him you can not cultivate anything in his school without making "validating the Fa" or "rectifying the Fa" one of your main priorities. There is a news paper they have for this, a traveling theater production, flyers, all kinds of ways you can make yourself useful to the cause. I guess what I am really trying to make a point of is that if you are looking to work on yourself and learn about yourself there are a lot of ways to do that. Falun Gong has some good tools I guess, but just be aware that you are getting into what is much more of a movement than strictly a cultivation school or technique. In order to be part of that school and succeed, according to it's master, you will have to become part of that movement and part of that cause. The feeling I got from reading the book and practicing was pretty good, especially when it was new. The feeling I got about the whole movement was kind of dark and weird. Once I decided to just let it all go and find my own way it was very liberating and freeing. I think there is really something you can pick up and learn from the book if the concepts and ideas are new to you, but it's true what others have said here that these are principals taught by many and not exclusive to Falun Gong. Keep working on yourself! It is something I strive for too and it is an awesome thing! That's what cultivation is I guess. Cultivating your body and mind, health and virtue. Becoming peaceful and content with who you are and where you are at any given moment in time. Good luck with whatever you do!!!

Nice to meet you too! That's cool you were born on mother's day. Mine is similar, I was born on my mother's birthday.

I go through periods where is keeps popping up. Not lately though. For me when I kept seeing it I felt like I was stuck on something waiting to move on. My birthday is 12/12 so when I keep seeing 11:11 I am like...ok...let's move on to my 12/12.

Hi Sifu Terry! This brought up a question for me regarding speed vs. reps. For example, with Bending the Bows or Wind Through Tree Tops, is there more or less benefit to doing them as slow as possible or doing more reps? Of course slow is key either way, but would it be better to do one very slow rep of WTTT that takes 10 min to get through, or two slow reps that take 5 each rep to get through? With the movements are also the breathing sequence, and I was mainly wondering if more reps of the breathing sequence and movements was more beneficial, or if as slow as you can go is more the key. I am sure one answer could be that there should be a nice balance there between the two, but is one more or less effective than the other? Thanks!

Thank you very much for that post Sifu Terry! I had a question cross my mind this morning while practicing. You mention MHP can be done standing, sitting, etc. Are you talking about the position itself, or the position along with the breathing sequence? For example, starting with the standing meds MHP, MGAM, and MHP. Then after a couple of sitting meds, closing with MHP but in half lotus. I just wasn't sure if you were just talking about holding the position while in stillness or actually adding the breathing sequence to it. It seems like the breathing would only add another beneficial element to it? I really am liking MHP and it along with Monk Serves Wine #1 and WTTT are becoming my favorites! When I do MHP everything sinks and relaxes very nicely, and everything just kind of goes and my sense of space and self just sort of dissolves. Very nice. Thanks again!

Hi Gauss! Can you please talk a bit about Fa rectification and why Master Li does not mention this in the book and yet now says that it is an integral part of his cultivation system and that you cannot cultivate in this system without participating in Fa rectification. I can understand why it is important to speak out against human rights violations, but I don't understand how cultivation is dependent on this. Falun Dafa is supposed to be non-political but how can that be possible if a requirement is to speak out against the government that suppresses them. Nothing wrong with it to me except the requirement part. Then you have the mass propaganda from both sides. The Chinese government has big smear campaigns and web posts defaming Master Li, but at the same time, Falun Dafa has their Clearwisdom website, Epoch Times news paper, and also their theater performance show. The show bills itself as one thing and then halfway through turns into a venue for Fa Rectification. Then there is talk and perhaps some evidence (there are tax documents from Friends of Falung Gong posted on the web) that perhaps Falun Gong is partially funded by the CIA in an attempt to destabilize the Chinese communist government. If it were as simple as Master Li and his qigong and his book, which is what seems to be discussed here, I think it is one of the best cultivation systems I have come across. However since then, many of the things that he has said have struck me as odd, and his demand to spread Dafa and Fa Rectification do not sit well with me. I practiced Falun Dafa for about a year. I have to say that when I stopped it was a big deal for me. I threw away my book and video and anything related. I felt like something had lifted and taken a huge weight off me. I am not here to speak for or against Falun Dafa. It's just my observations and experience. I would like to know Gauss how you see these issues I came across that arose for me once I got past the simpleness of the book and exercises and into the much more complicated political-ness of Falun Gong. To me, the Master Li of Zhuan Falun and the Master Li of today are quite different. Thank you!

Hi Healerman, Not sure if this helps you but from my experience the more I do FP the more my energy increases. I have noticed that when I drink coffee or soda at work and then come home in the evening, it is much harder to relax into a qigong state for FP practice or anything of that nature. So I am cutting it out. I never drank it before until the last few months. It is a mellow stimulant but still a drug all the same and can be addicting. I don't see anything really bad about it but it's not really compatible for me and my Chi!

Just for fun...

Ha ha! That's Great! I agree though adding some Gong Fu and or Tai Chi could be really helpful. Sparing in class can be especially fun!

Hmm, well I wasn't implying anything in regards to natural progression. It is the nature of my life. I was just wondering why some people seek supernatural powers when we already are able to accomplish similar things in the same way. Of course it would be cool to be able to levitate, but I really don't mind walking. I guess cause it would just be cool to have them and you could benefit yourself and others in some ways, but it's not the only way. I'm not really in support of any idea but just had a curiosity about this in particular. I wonder things on both sides but don't really hold onto a particular viewpoint. Yeah I know...kinda wishy washy and boring...just call me Charlie Brown

I have sometimes wondered why some people might want certain powers to do things a certain way when it can already be done. Like having something burst into flames while it is in your hand, when we already have numerous ways to start a fire. Or seeing through walls, when we have legs to simply walk around the wall and look on the other side. Spending hours trying to move something with your mind when you have arms and hands that are already made for this. For me I pursue health and healing, for I really do believe that to be healthy is to be happy. To be healthy in body and mind, you feel well, think well, and are vibrant and full of life and energy. That's just my opinion anyway

The Fake Monk Gang!!! So random. Straight up Gangsta Monks with their fake gold ropes. Drinking 40s of rice wine.

So it sounds like it would go very well with my Tai Chi practice then, great! I did notice this morning that after a very good and strong session of FP, I went on to do my Tai Chi set and got a queasy feeling in my stomach. Very light and went away not long after. This is the first time I have done my Tai Chi directly after PF. It could very well just be a coincidence but I don't ever normally get that doing my Tai Chi. Anyway, I am thinking I might do my Tai Chi set first and then FP. Sifu Terry I just really want to thank you for your reply's to us. It is very valuable to me to have you mention about MGAM being a core practice of the system, and I am going to be working on that one for sure. It is interesting doing that one. For me, with the hand position and the eyes open, it creates two areas of focus, and does tricks with my eyes. You have your hands in front of you which is a close focus, and even if you don't focus on them they are still in your field of vision. Then you have the backround, a chair, lamp, wall...whatever is across from you. Even when I relax my focus and don't try to bring focus anywhere, my eyes shift, focus, blur. Almost like that trick when your put your two fingers close, cross your eyes, and see a peanut in the middle...haha. Only my hands aren't that close of course. Today I did MGAM, MHP, and WTTT. Felt really loose, soft, relaxed, and "clean" afterward. Great!

Are you looking to learn the Standardized 24 Form or the Cheng Man Ching 37 form? I have learned both but personally really like the Cheng Man Ching form. I met a teacher online named Bill Phillips that was a student of Cheng Man Ching. I learned from his DVD. Patience Tai Chi He is a really nice, mellow, friendly guy. He really does have a love for Tai Chi. Oh, also Terry Dunn who has been on here recently sharing about Flying Phoenix Chi Kung also has a really good 37 form DVD. If you get a chance to check out both that would be great since then you would get different viewpoints from two very good sources

Wow, that was fun to watch, thanks! I have never heard of that before. What was amazing also was the very different body build of the second guy and yet he was still agile and flexible. He was also much more hairy That first flip they do to the leg grip on the pole is crazy.

So I decided to stop jumping around like a spider monkey and settle on two standing and two sitting FP exercises and stay with them for a while. It's hard for me when I learn of a new practice that is exciting to me, I really just want to jump in and immerse myself and learn and do. But eventually I will back off and try to take the best of what I have learned as it applies to me and stick with that. So for the next month or so I am going to work with Monk Holding Peach and Wind Through the Tree Tops for standing, and then the seated version of Monk Gazing with the hand turning and the third movement from Monk Serves Wine will be my sitting. A couple of things I have noticed while doing Wind Through Tree Tops. One is that the movements are really enjoyable to do at a very slow speed. I mean like so slow that at points you are not sure anymore if you are moving still or have paused for a moment. It is so completely relaxing. A big contributor to this, for me at least, is that the breathing is not coordinated wit the movements. With some things I have found that when a set breathing pattern is set to certain movements, the movement is only as slow as you can inhale/exhale. I am sure this has it's benefits also, but in the case of relaxation and completely letting go I personally prefer natural breathing with no thought. I find my breathing naturally syncs up with certain movements on it's own depending on where it needs to go at that time. The second thing I noticed from Wind Through Tree Tops is that is very strong in activating the palms. I feel them very buzzy. Not the entire hands but the palms specifically. Following WTTT with the seated Monk Gazing with the hand tweeks really takes this even further, as the palms rotate to face yourself, face each other, and also face away from you. There is healing energy directed toward yourself and then also out to the universe. That is the way I am seeing it ATM anyhow. Also a couple times after doing these together I have felt some light pulsing in the perineum area. Not for very long, and not very strong, but there. I did have two questions for Sifu Terry regarding the seated med with the hand turning. In the video you recommend sitting for a min. of two minutes before doing the hand turning in and out. What I was wondering and maybe a couple other people as well, is can you hold the Monk Gazing pose for say 5 min or even 10 min. before starting the hand turning? Also you mention doing the turning a min. of 30 times. I was wondering if you are counting in as one time, out as one time, or in/out as one time. I would like to do them as slow as possible but then 30 in/outs would take quite a long time Thanks again all for coming and sharing in the thread and for Sifu Terry who has taken the time to field our questions and further expand on things

Lately I have been making a morning drink of Spirulina, Maca, Protein Powder, and MSM. Then about 10 am I have a breakfast sandwich which is one egg on two slices of wheat with a slice of cheese. :-) I have been finding that if I start eating too much too early it kicks in a stronger feeling of wanting to snack all day. That is a pretty big breakfast with two servings of proteins and two servings of carbs. It's no wonder people need coffee to stay awake after all that I do like that kind of breakfast occasionally on the weekends though. Sounds like you could just pick one protein and one carb and try to keep it light. Or you could have half at around 8 and the other half around 10. Wow lucky for you to be around all that food! I'm a pretty light guy because I run and cycle so much, but I sure really do love to cook and to eat! This morning I am making crepes! Yum!