dwai

Chi follows yi. And visualization is perfectly alright to start as long yi is there

Have you tried circulating this? First use your mind and see if you can condense this into a point. Then have that point spin towards your tailbone and around (so a clockwise spin). Once it spins on demand, then you can using this spin to move energy up your spine to your crown point and down the front of your body back into the dan tian, thereby doing the microcosmic orbit.

That's your lower dan tian. What kind of practice do you have?

I see.

I don't own all his DVDs. You might want to consider taking a class with one of his direct students. PM me if you want to find out more.

Personally I would stick with the source - Master Liao, over Gary Clyman any day. The way I've been taught is to consider this to be like a star collapsing into itself, and each breath adds more mass, which collapses into itself progressively. These are all analogies/visualization exercises that get replaced with real feeling (then no need to visualizing etc).

I think it is not nice to post negative things about a tradition that we haven't personally experienced. What is the point of calling John Chang a huckster? Wouldn't it be better to not provoke arguments/dissent and just focus on sharing knowledge, techniques, insights and practice dilligently?

It will start spinning too. One thing my teacher taught us I can share with you - in standing posture (beginning form), you can pick a point that you mind considers infinity and breathing out of your LDT, go to that point. And then breathing in, breath energy in from that point to your dan tien. It is important to eventually shrink the LDT down to a smaller and smaller point. The smaller it is, the more powerful it will become (condensing) I realized one day that as I was doing this, with each breath, the LDT was spinning (like using a rope starter), till the LDT starts spinning on it's own (like starting a generator).

Yin feels heavy and full, dense. Yang feels like and floating/expanding. Yin eventually becomes Yang and Yang becomes Yin. So, besides feeling the energy inside the body, we also feel it outside - especially with tai chi practices - where we work with Tai chi balls (not the physical medicine balls, but actual energy balls) - the Yin-Yang combination can be felt very palpably - Yang will expand the tai chi ball with a degree of inward collapsing/attraction), till it reaches a point where Yin becomes stronger than Yang, and then the ball will start collapsing towards the center (with a degree of expansion still there). It is hard to describe in words. This will continue till the cannot condense any more and then Yang becomes stronger than Yin and the ball starts expanding again.

If you don't feel the Qi actually sinking into the Dan Tien, you are not sinking the Qi to the Dan Tien. If you feel the Qi sinking into the Dan Tien, it will feel like Qi is sunken into the Dan Tien.

This has some compelling Daoist concepts in it (albeit, ascribed to Miyamoto Musashi, the famous Japanese Swordsman). What do you bums think? Isn't this beautiful? http://www.bookoffiverings.com/Introduction.htm

It's hard to explain in words. But off late I've started feeling that the LDT is actually a void (in that energy that is sent into it can never fill it). It is not possible to fill it, it is not a gas tank. The energy frequency can be altered, that's all. Each dan tian has it's function. UDT for spiritual practice, MDT for healing (both physical and psychological) and LDT for life energy. It is not a good idea to be one dimensional at the expense of others, imho. Also, different people have different centers active (some have UDT more active, some MDT and some LDT). So while it's a good idea to start with the LDT, others must be done too.

Go learn sanskrit son

Bump I'm trying to figure out how to maintain focus on the OP (which is really an article that I'm writing to cover my understanding of Vedanta basics). Thoughts?

going through some of the older posts on this topic. I would like to opine here please: Atman does not mean Identity in Sanskrit. Identity is "Parichay". Atman is Self. You could say it's Self-identity (there is a difference between the two). And as to why Advaitins consider Atman and Brahman to be the same I've covered in a previous post.

Yes. Because the intellect too is a tool. And like all tools, it only makes sense to use it when it's needed

There are three distinct traditions of Vedanta. Which one are you referring to? The Non-Dual tradition of Vedanta - aka Advaita Vedanta says that there is no distinction between the true self "Atman" and the Brahman (which is not part of the conditioned reality that we live in). Dualist school of Vedanta and Qualified Non-dual school of Vedanta (Dvaita and Vishisthadvaita respectively) say that it is impossible for the human mind to ever be able to realize Brahman unqualified (Nirguna Brahman), therefore, they consider the self the Jiva (the living entity) and the goal is devotion to the higher being (Ishwara). If it is Advaita vedanta that you are inquiring about,then let me suggest this: Advaita Vedanta doesn't really prescribe much beside inquiring into what the "Self" is. This process of inquiry will, by the process of elimination (i.e. this is not the self, that is not self and so on), bring the practitioner to realize what the Self is. Using a series of intellectual (since Advaita Vedanta is primarily Jnana Yoga - or the Wisdom Path) positions, it shows that there is no such thing as absolute truth or absolute reality within the constraints of our conditioned world. In other words, the conditioned reality we experience and live in is a product of our categorical framework (Nama-Rupa). That which is Brahman is something that can only be experientially realized and is outside the realm of categorical frameworks (thereby outside the scope of our conditioned realities). It is apparent only when all frameworks are discarded. When one experientially realizes Brahman, they also come to the realization that the True Nature of the individual being is that Brahman (and all other identities are predicated upon a conditioned reality - i.e. a categorical framework, with a label and a form, or just a label or just a form). Also that the Brahman is unchanging and eternal, it is outside the constraints of Time and Space yet exists in every space and every time.

Nothing like a little year-end BB baiting eh brother Bob? So here goes: Emptiness that is truly empty is not truly empty. Emptiness that is empty of self-nature, is truly empty.

could be your past teacher as well.

My teacher (as does his teacher Master Liao) tells us that everything except roll back and roll pull is Peng. The other energies are expressions of Peng in different vectors and angles. Lu (roll back), which in essence is a void - I consider it the anti-peng. And cai (Roll pull) is an expression of Lu in a specific direction (this is often combined with the split energy - which is again peng). Another idea that my teacher had us think of in the past is the resonance of the sound "Peng" (the vibrations of it - pungggggg....) - that is how peng should feel (either in a large frame or a tiny frame). He says - a traditional ward off is peng. but a fist punching is also peng (and smaller and smaller). The smaller the frame, the more powerful the expression (he likens it to the power of the laser as light gets more coherent and narrower/more focused). So we'd practice ward off while expressing the sound "peng" till we feel vibrations on the outside of the wardoff arm (and radiating outward like a wave). Over time ward off comes naturally (say in push hands) where you will feel a void in the partner's energy and a ball of energy fills that void, sinking into the ground (or as deep as the other's root is) and then lifts him/her up (uprooting). So it's a sink, lift and away type feeling (and effect is visible too, in the partner). But its frame will shrink too -- we will start feeling a wardoff generating in form of a punch to the midsection or chest), or even smaller, like the touch of a fingertip. BTW, I thought Master Chen's exposition of Peng and Sung were very clear, and attractive due it's simplicity and directness. I had not thought of Sung in that way before. But when I think of it, it makes perfect sense. Whatever is the natural "state" of a thing, it will be in perfect state of "sung" too. Any deviation from it's natural state and it is not in "sung". In such a case, Sung can also be known as equilibrium?

I don't see post numbers. Why don't you type your response. Explain which #2 and #3 you were referring to and why?

Why?

I have a regular tai chi practice and had a regular seated meditation practice for years in the past. I currently focus exclusively on Daoist meditation techniques which involve both still stance (standing) as well as seated meditation - the distinction between what I used to do before and now is that before I would sit and meditate on the breath, using breath and "ride" it to elongate the gap between thoughts, be in that gap. That becomes easy after a while, but the challenge is to get to that state during moving meditation. Which is where a meditation like Taiji Chuan comes into play. The way we are taught Tai Chi in Temple Style Tai Chi is single form practice which eventually leads to long form practice. So we practice forms like "Upward and downward", "inward and outward", "raised hands stance", "holding the tai chi ball stance" etc as multiple repetitions and eventually weave them together into a long form. The key is to maintain uninterrupted flow of energy during the forms and in the transitions between the forms. Then there are standing and seated meditations which work on moving the energy inside as well as outside the body, connecting with the energy outside and vibrating the energy inside the body. In essence connecting and resonating with Yuan Chi (or Dao) - aka Dao gong. It is a challenge to establish the stillness one gets from a pure seated practice or when in Corpse pose after Asana/pranayama practice in a moving practice such as Taiji Chuan or in Dao Gong. I see posts here putting down seated meditation or moving meditation, etc. If you ask me, both are needed. Seated meditation gets us access to stillness far more quickly than moving meditation can. But moving meditation helps us take the stillness acquired with seated/still meditation into a more pragmatic setting, getting us ready for every day life. Forgot to add the question - "What do you bums think about this?"

Sequence of Taiji Form practice as suggested by my teacher: Frame size: 1) medium 2) large 3) small Speed: 1) slow 2) medium 3) fast Most time needs to be spent in medium frame and slow speed. As body relaxes, frame becomes large. The medium and fast speeds can be combined as needed, based on intention of training. Same thing with push hands practice -- do it slow, with relaxation and softness. This will cultivate listening ability and expose the opportunities to apply different energies at a controlled pace. Later this can become san shou (where full speed may be employed. But even then, the softness and sensitivity will be retained).

I've been reading posts and commentary on Facebook in the "Taiji Martial artists" and "The Fa Jin project" groups. And I must say I am shocked at how few people who claim to practice Taiji Chuan actually believe in Qi and Jin as being energy and it's expressed power. I had an exchange with a person who is apparently a well known author of Taiji Quan (from the UK) and has been practicing Taiji Chuan for more than 40 years now. I'm skeptical about his taiji skills. What do the Bums think? Is it possible to be good at Internal Martial Arts if one doesn't accept the "internal aspect" of it (i.e. Qi, Jin, etc)?