Dainin

Q: Does a Vicious Dog have Buddha Nature? A: Woof, woof!

1. Master Dogen's Shobogenzo by Gudo Nishijima 2. A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya by Swami Satyananda Saraswati 3. Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan by Fu Zhongwen

I'm wondering if any of you have seen the following DVD, and could tell me if it includes the Kunlun Dragon posture that Trunk has written about elsewhere in the forum: Bagua Zhang: Awakening the Dragon Within: 8 Energy Set (Note: this is not a DGS product, but features Sifu Matsuo, so hopefully it is okay to ask here) Thanks in advance, Dainin

I downloaded the free Kindle for PC app specifically to read this book on my desktop. They now also have a "cloud" Kindle, which means you can read your e-books on any computer or device with internet access, not just the one with the app. I expect to start buying more e-books, simply to save space, as I have run out of shelf space at home, and have unsightly stacks forming on the floor...

Tulku, if you really want the answer, what is stopping you from finding out for yourself?

If you are interested in the qigong of Emei Mountain, I would recommend checking out Linhai's Sacred Journeys web site. He's been leading tour groups up there every year for almost 30 years, which actually stay in the monasteries and learn directly from the monks and nuns. I hope to go on one of his trips eventually. Emei Sudden Enlightenment Classical Zen TCM Scroll down to the bottom for the details on the trip. He also goes to Tibet, Wudang, etc. He could probably tell you some interesting things about Master Fu as well...

Here's the Tong Bei page from Plum Publications: Tong Bei (Through the Back) Style The descriptions of the DVDs provide some interesting background information on the style.

Yeah, the "One-Armed Swordsman" was amazing, and the sequel might be even better. Wang Yu also played a one-armed martial arts teacher in the incredible "Master of the Flying Guillotine." I also forgot to mention Lo Lieh, star of the first martial arts movie that I ever saw in a movie theater when I was about 9 or 10, "Five Fingers of Death." I saw this again (on DVD) a few years ago for the first time since then. It was even better than I remembered. It is known as "King Boxer" on DVD.

Hello Twinner, I'd recommend that you get more historical context by viewing as many Shaw Brothers productions from the 1960s and 70s as you can. Also view some of the classic Japanese samurai movies, which not only had good martial arts (primary swordsmanship) but were brilliant film-making as well. Here are some of my favorites that I would add to the list: Toshiro Mifune (star of many Kurosawa classics, as well as the great "Samurai Rebellion") Gordon Liu (star of "36th Chamber of Shaolin", see above) Tomisaburo Wakayama (star of the "Shogun Assasin" series, very bloody but entertaining) Chang Pei Pei (she was the "old witch" in "Crouching Tiger" but starred in "Come Drink with Me" and "Golden Swallow" when young) Alexander Fu Sheng (one of the "Five Deadly Venoms") David Chiang and Ti Lung: these guys were in many good Shaw Brothers movies between the time of Bruce Lee and the emergence of Jackie Chan. I think that you'll have fun viewing this stuff. Enjoy!

Hi Komako, It's not Taoist, but most mornings after pranayama and seated meditation, I do a 15 minute Yoga Nidra routine. In case you're not familiar with this practice, it is done in savasana and includes paying attention to the sounds inside and outside the room, the body's point of contact on the floor (or mat), drawing of attention to the various parts of the body in a systematic order, then grouping them together in increasing larger groups, until you have attention through the entire body at once, then paying attention to the breath, counting breaths backwards from 27 down to 1, etc. I use an audio CD from the Atma Center in Cleveland (N. American HQ for the Bihar School of Yoga) called Foundation Class A, which is available through the store on their web site: Atma Center I find that this practice leaves me in a very refreshed and often blissful state. I can't recommend it enough. Good luck with your class project no matter which practice you choose, Dainin

Hi Jeffrito. This was one of the first ones that I got years ago on VHS, along with Ken Cohen's and Francesco Garripolli's (which are also good). The DVD version has added on a good lecture on key points of body alignment during practice, and the excellent 1-10 meditation as bonus features: Chi Kung: the Healing Workout with Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson Johnson's DVD will give you a good idea of how to structure a practice session, and includes a good variety of exercises, some of which I still do almost every day. Another good one is Bruce Kumar Frantzis': Dragon & Tiger Medical Qigong Lots of attention to detail, just like his live seminars. Also includes some good qi sensing exercises. I'm also a big fan of this book and dvd by Ted Mancuso and Narrye Caldwell: Blossoms in the Spring This is a seated form that makes a nice transition between active and quiescent practices. Mancuso also did a really good short one on body alignment in qigong, which is hard to find, as it's buried in their blog. I wish I had seen this first when I was starting out: Qigong Essentials #1: Controlling the Body I hope that you find methods that you will enjoy and practice on a regular basis...

Hi Carol, There was an interesting character who used to post in this forum named Drew Hempel, who wrote a lot about Spring Forest Qigong and Master Chunyi Lin. I think that he wrote something about Lin doing a 49 day fast in a cave, which would count as Bigu, I guess. Hempel frequently wrote about his own 7 day fast where he only consumed a half glass of water, and then developed certain special powers that I won't go into. You can access these threads using the search box near the upper right side of the forum screen. He has his own blog now and doesn't post here anymore: Full Lotus Qigong None of this stuff is discussed in the basic Spring Forest materials, which I have. Hempel lives in Minnesota and studied with Lin in person. He also wrote about Master Yuanming Zhang, who was Lin's teacher, and may have inspired the fasting. BTW, I am learning Soaring Crane now, and love it! Best wishes for your healing.

Hi Anamatva, I believe that they now usually refer to it as "Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan" to distinguish it from the more generic aspects of kundalini. Of course the term kundalini arose in a Hindu context, but the phenomenon is cross-cultural. The late Dr. Glenn Morris wrote quite a bit about this. I also like this practice a lot, and have found it to be one of the styles of yoga that seems to me to be more closely aligned with qigong. I have heard some of the instructors make statements like "Kundalini Yoga is the mother of all yogas" and "Kundalini Yoga is 40,000 years old" which seem highly unlikely to me. I'm not sure if yoga is even usually a part of orthodox Sikhism (I don't think it is). However, I don't feel compelled to buy into all of the rhetoric in order to enjoy the movements, breathing, etc. It's not so important to me if it is the original form of yoga or if Yogi Bhajan made it up 40 years ago, but whether or not it produces good effects, which it seems to. I think that it is possible to separate out what works for you and what doesn't. (If you lived on one of their communes that might not be so easy). For me, this also holds true for qigong and tai chi. I don't think that knowing the "original methods" developed by Bodhidharma or Chang San Feng, while interesting, would necessarily be "better" than later versions. This type of thinking tends to discount the refinements made subsequently by practitioners over the course of hundreds of years...

Mantak Chia's Universal Healing Tao Center sells a variety of these: Bean Bag, Bamboo, Rattan, Wire, etc: Chi Kung Equipment Art Hitters

FYI, I noticed today that Snow Lion Publications is having a 40% off sale for a limited time. Not just books, but CDs, DVDs, etc. I may have to stock up on a few things. (No, I am not affiliated with the company).

Oh, no! Now you may have earned re-birth as one of those critters, lol!

Wasn't Tulku going to "Ascend" on Buddha's birthday, or something like that?

Welcome back!

The same NYT author who wrote this also wrote the "How Yoga can Wreck your Body" article a few months ago, and now has recently released a book on that topic. He is probably trying to drum up attention to sell more copies of his book, since this kind of thing has been going on since the 1970s or before. (Well, actually ever since hatha yoga was first inroduced to America in the early 1900s. There was book on this topic called "The Great Oom" published last year that talked about some of these early scandals). I thought that this article was a pretty good response: Please Join My Tantric Yoga Sex Cult John Friend: he wanted to be "more than friends" lol! Whenever I read anything about his style of yoga, they would always mention that it was "heart opening." I guess that he was opening more than hearts...

Even within each group, some units will have various areas of specialization that they excel in: reconnaissance, search and rescue, air traffic control, underwater demolition, EOD, winning the "hearts and minds" of the locals, urban warfare, etc. As far as the US goes, it would probably be hard to say that one group is the best at everything. That's why there is a joint Special Operations Command, and missions often include a combination of elements from the different services, to take advantage of their unique strengths. In terms of real world counter-terrorist operations, I believe that the French GIGN unit has one of the most successful track records, having stormed hijacked airliners and eliminated the hijackers with a minimum of "collateral damage" on multiple occasions. I was very fortunate in that the only "war" that occured during my two year enlistment in the Army (signal corps) was the invasion of Grenada. I see far too many young men missing limbs these days...