liminal_luke

The back and forth between sparring Bums has been nothing short of electric.

If I had Rudi's faqi abilities I'd be sorely tempted to keep my "powers" a secret and this thread is why.

Gotta love these power threads. This one has a mention of, presumably heterosexual, sex tourism in the Ukraine. And now there's the suggestion that procedures alledgedly designed to check the validity of faqi zapper demonstrations are actually the work of horny homosexuals. Good heavens -- what will we think of next!?

I already reported him, as did Rudi, I believe. I was thinking maybe a one or two week suspension would do the trick, but hey, a libel suit -- that works too. (Later edit: On the other hand, we all have to live with the good and bad of our own personalities; for some, that's punishment aplenty.)

Of course my mind is not changed. I'm going by my own experience having actually taken a class, not by your experience having watched a video and having an opinion about it. I consider myself a good judge of character. To me, the faqi thing is neither here nor there. It's interesting, amazing even, but if I joined Rudi's group it would be because I'm interested in learning neigong and seeing how far his training might take me. If the training resulted in my being able to zap people, well cool -- especially if I could use the zapping for healing purposes. But I'm older and not in the best health so I don't think I'll be doing any zaps anytime soon. That's OK. Who knows what other less flashy but just as life changing benefits the practice might bring? I may yet sign up for his training; it's on my mind. The reason I don't is that my plate is full with other practices that I'm committed to for now.

If there's one thing I know almost for sure, it's that nobody is going to change their mind about this because of anything I say, but I like hearing myself talk -- so here goes. As I've already mentioned, awhile back Rudi taught a class on Zoom for all interested Bums for free. Yes, that's right folks. No charge. Afterwards, I consulted with him briefly over private messenger concerning a health problem my partner was having. At all times, he was personable and uncultlike. There was no pressure or sales pitch to join his paid group.

No good deed teacher goes unpunished.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: discussing faqi is a distraction. As soon as we start down this conversational path everybody is giving their opinion yah or nay and there's no end to it. If Rudi does some sort of demonstration in controlled circumstances I bet the controversy will intensify. Meanwhile, people who might be interested in the practice for more down to earth reasons, say health, turn away because all they can see is the faqi show.

Partez, You've called my opinion "asinine" and have said worse to Rudi. Disagree with other Bums all you like but please don't attack people's character. Doing so makes the board an uglier place for all of us.

The tissues immediately surrounding the navel are energetically potent areas for a little exploratory self-massage. While not the exact location of the LDT, I like to think of this area as the driveway leading to the castle.

I don't know. You could ask him, I guess. It was offered here to Bums on Zoom. I think he called it stillness meditation.

I took a free diaphramatic breathing Zoom workshop with Rudi and it was great. You'd think that after several decades of qigong adventuring that I would of known everything one needs to know about diaphramatic breathing, but nope, I didn't. And let me tell you, diaphramatic breathing is Gold, everybody believes in diaphramatic breathing but it's absolute Gold. So to me all this faqi zapping stuff is a distraction. I believe in it, but given my current level, my physiological context, it's a distraction. It attracts people who have opinions yeah or nay, which is fine, but meanwhile many people (Luke raises his hand) are not doing the less flashy but oh-so-important work that comes at the beginning. Faqi may come for some but to say you're gonna do the training because you want to faqi, or that you're not going to do the training because you think it's a hoax, to say either one of these things is to miss the point.

I'm just barely visible, way in the back.

Follow-the-leader perception may be responsible for some of the effect seen but I'm not convinced that the genuine article doesn't exist. As far as Rudi goes, I attended a Zoom class with him, followed by a brief private message exchange here on the board, and had a good feeling about him. I don't think he's out to fleece people. So I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe believing or not believing in this kind of stuff is part of a person's basic worldview. There are people oriented toward skepticism, habitually finding alternative explanations for anything wondrous or quasi miraculous. Others are bent toward belief and vulnerable to all sorts of hoodwinks. I won't be emptying my life savings to experience an electrical miracle cure anytime soon but I like to think that all sorts of stuff contrary to science-as-we-know-it are possible. So sue me: I'm just happier believing in magic.

I haven't done it personally (no back pain yet!) but foundation training gotten high reviews from past Bums. Foundation Training - Redefine Your Life Without Pain

Personally, I think Rudi´s teaching and abilities are genuine. Assuming that Taoist Texts would be interested in learning what Rudi knows (if only he could suspend his disbelief) than Taoist Texts is missing out on a good learning opportunity. That´s too bad but I´m not gonna cry over it. Taoist Texts seems to be pretty happy with what he´s doing so I´m happy to leave him alone. As for everybody else, I´m confident that the people who have the right karma to learn from Rudi will find their way into his program.

It´s good I think to be cautious, perhaps especially when it comes to spiritual teachers. I have some trust in that thread because it´s here on the forum and not on one of Rudi´s personal sites. A lot of times you see testimonials on websites that have been picked and chosen by the seller. That´s not the case here where anyone can post whatever they like.

There´s a thread on the board where people have related their experiences working with Rudy, all positive testimonials if memory serves. At one point he offered a free zoom class on diaphramatic breathing which I took and found very useful. Nobody is perfect and there are always things to criticize, but personally I find these testimonials persuasive. As spiritual teacher scandals go, ion machine salesmanship is pretty tame.

Thanks for telling me a little more about "lazy gardening." It sounds a whole lot more involved and learned than I first imagined. Maybe lazy gardening is also smart gardening? To most people, lazy has a negative connotation but I think a person has to be really smart to figure out how to be lazy effectively.

It doesn´t sound like an "insignificant problem" at all! Of course you want to have a strong sense of who you are and what you stand for. I like the name Luke. It´s a quick one´-syllable name and to me it feels no-nonsense and masculine, two qualities that I like. The word liminal speaks to my understanding of spirituality, the power of in-between places and ambiguity. So that´s sort of the meaning of my name. Your user name may have been computer generated but I´m sure the subheading was not. A lazy gardener -- I love that! It´s a great combination of words that adds a lot of characterization, really lets me know who you are. You´re lazy and you´re also a gardener, both at the same time. To me, it´s admirably self-deprecating the way you admit to laziness. You´re not one of those Bums who is trying to pass yourself off as perfect and I appreciate that. But you also have the confidence to tell us about one of your productive activities -- gardening. What does lazy gardening look like? I´m not sure but I´m curious. To me, the post above also reveals some qualities you have that could be the basis for a name. You are someone who wants to know yourself better. I get the feeling that in the past you may have kept to yourself more but now you are in the process of "interacting more" and being a more social person. You are thoughtful about how you come across to other people and want to pick a name that truly reflects who you are. These are my impressions anyway. I think all of these things suggest that you are a very particular person with particular strengths and areas you´re working on. Any of these qualities could inspire an interesting name. Just my two cents, LL

A long time ago, Jane Alexander was a member here and I remember her talking about her book. Love the title, Possessing Me. It seems to me that that´s what good spiritual practice does -- puts us in better possession of ourselves.

Awwwww....thanks, Maddie!

This reminds me of Quaker meetings. Well, I´ve never actually been to a Quaker meeting but it reminds me of what I´ve read about them, namely that people listen and don´t speak unless they truly feel called to do so. I wonder what my post count would look like if I took a few seconds before writing to check in and ask myself if spirit was truly asking me to pipe up. It´s comforting to imagine that frequent posters like me are supported -- silently, spiritually, unassumingly -- by legions of Quiet Bums patiently waiting for the spirit to move. What if the real heroes of the board are the ones we cannot see?

All the Abrahamic biggies have interesting mystical sides. With any luck, we´ll be debating the esoteric Christian, Jewish, and Islamic teachings about non-dualism any day now. I, for one, would welcome that development.

I won´t be feasting on my mom´s delicious giblet-rich stuffing this Thanksgiving, but that doesn´t mean I have nothing to be grateful for. Or at least that´s what many of the online newsletter writers I subscribe to tell me. So I´m wondering...do any of my Bum friends practice bringing gratitude into their lives in structured ways? Any gratitude contemplators? Gratitude journalers? I´d be grateful for your perspectives, tips, and suggestions.