dwai

True...labguage IS dualistic, yet we need this tool to learn. Yoga does not call for blind faith. Patanjali's yoga sutras give a good explanation of this....pratyaksha anumaanagamah pramanani... Truth is of three different categories. That which is directly experienced, that which is logically inferred and that which is by the testimony of reliable sources. Of these, the first is best while the last is least. So in yoga sadhana one has to start with the last, understand with the second and know with the first...

i could not have put this across any better.... I think i know who you are my friend....correct me if i am wrong. Also great points by both jijaji and bob. Prasthana tryayi is the correct term to refer to the triumvirate of philosphies and guidelines based upon which pratitioners of the eternal way (dharma) build their ciivil and spiritual lives. These are the Vedas, the brahmasutras and the bhagavad gita.

) ah the "old" response fabricated by indophobes in western academia... I'm a hindu and i can tell you all about wht hinduism is....wanna learn?

Depends on " which class" you are referring to. I was taught fundamentals of yoga by my grandfather. He taught me pranayama more so than asanas. My father and uncle both were yoga practitioners. So asanas were done...exactly which sequence would be (and should be) determined by the individual's constitution. Different people do yoga for different reasons. Some do it for health maintenance reasos while others do it as part of a treatment plan ( my best friend's pneumothorax was cured by yoga) while others do it as part of their spiritual quest. To answer the op, imho, yes. And the reason is that it was "secularized" to make it more palatable for westerners. Its a twin-edged sword...

Being rich and being spiritually awakened are not mutually exclusive. It might be so in the west however. I got into spirituality after I lost my father and had to support my family at the age of 19. I started to be able to cope with the grief and it morphed into something more intense. I was attracted to the martial arts since i was a kid and so my interest in daoism.

no yoga is not a neutral spiritual technology. It is very much hindu, just as tai chi is daoist. There have been misguided efforts to bend it with non-dharmic religions and really sorry ones at that. Ishwara pranidhana in yoga is not the same as " our lord and saviour jesus christ is the only way" kind of bhakti... My 2 cents worth...

http://www.dlshq.org/download/bgita.pdf

My 2 cents worth...most iskcon folks i have encountered are fervent exclusivists. Not surprising because srila used many christian ideas to establish his system. As fra as bhakti is concerned, its good. Beyond tht, imho it is no good.

http://bugu.cntv.cn/sports/other/wulindahui/classpage/video/20100511/100781.shtml Thoughts?

Each tai chi single form is a qigongin itself. Those who dont know signle form tend to dismiss this....but all they hAve to do is try it.

I have learnt that its ok to talk about one's practices but never about accomplishments or their deeper experiences. I have been told so by many people, especially my grandfather, who was my first guru. The fact is that we are after an unknown, unknowable experience ( ie cannot be captured ntellectually). All that naming it ( talking about this) does is to fixate us on sign bords on the road, and instead of walking towards the destination we spend time on landmarks on the way. I asked my guru what it feels like to reach samadhi to which his response was " if i tell you how it s, it will color your experience...so i wuld ather have you discover it for yourself"

Master Liao is definitely the "real deal". I've been studying with a direct student of his for past 9 years. And my teacher studied with Master Liao since the 1980s (over 20 years). One thing I'd like to mention here is that AFAIK, Master Liao doesn't teach any more (only the Teacher-level folks) although he does conduct 1-2 seminars each year. From what I've heard, there are chances that he will stop teaching and go off the proverbial grid very soon. So any opportunity to train with someone like him is a once in a life-time experience. I missed the Florida seminar this year. Next year I am definitely going to attend (if there is a seminar i.e.). I hadn't studied any of his DVDs since my teacher teaches pretty much the same thing. I recently got one of his DVDs (How to make your Taichi Ball substantial) and I can tell you that it's almost as good as getting the training from him. Although I think it'll be most useful for students who have learnt his style... Best of Luck, Dwai

Yeah...that's what I thought...especially the kao stroke was impressive. The younger guys were using too much li I thought. Apparently the winner is the head coach of the Chen Village Tai Chi school Chen Zhiqiang. Heard he's teaching in San Francisco..any one a student of his?

Amanda...she is a nerdy bombshell...you guys ever watch the episodes with the ascended ancient...oma desala? My personal favorites... Sackhoff was good too...i liked number 6 and boomer more

Dao...Brahman...

I second that

Thanks for that link...it's very useful and I've bookmarked it

Hi, I've been dabbling with quinoa as well off late. Especially with my insulin resistance growing with age. I'm in the process of relegating rice to the occasional treat while using quinoa as the primary grain in my house. I get drowsy with rice (especially polished white rice) but eating quinoa actually leaves my quite energized. It is filling and provides simple carbohydrates which are very easy on the system. I also love the texture of the grain, it adds a little crunchiness to the meals (as opposed to the mushiness of rice). Maybe the drowsiness you're referring to could be from something else in your diet?

What are you currently practicing? I think advice is best given in context of what you are practicing... But, qi can feel like many things...depending on the person. Some feel it like electro-magnetic sensation, some feel it like heat, some cold, some feel an "airy" sensation. The brain translates the signals it's getting into something familiar...so even though Qi isn't by itself heating, cooling, electrifying, etc...it is interpreted in any which way by the brain. With time it will most likely transform into a feeling of pressure (like air or water filling a tube) and flow. Also, it is most easily felt in the hands (since we do most work with our hands) and least easily felt in the legs (below the belt so to speak). But then again, I'm speaking from a man's perspective. Women might feel it differently... One good practice to start feeling it is to stand in the beginning posture of Taiji Chuan (or Qi Gong), with the feet shoulder width apart (with toes pointing straight ahead or slightly turned inwards, parallel to each other). Think of a rectangle or a parallelogram. The knees should be slightly bent but the knees should not extend beyond the toes (when looked at from the top). The shoulders and elbows relaxed. The ankles relaxed. The head should be held lightly and straight. Imagine a thread connected to the top of your skull and like you are suspended from the sky above (like a puppet). All your strength should naturally simply fall into the ground through your feet. There should be no strain on your knees or ankles. This is called "suspending the crown point". http://gbolarts.com/pages/notes_archive/notes_001.html The pelvis should be relaxed and pay attention to the inguinal creases (called Kwa in Chinese) and move your pelvis back and forth till you find the spot where the inguinal creases are not tensed. This is the beginning of what is called "sung kwa"... When done correctly, you will feel like you are sitting on a big beach ball or an exercise ball... This is a link to my teacher's notes on how to stand -- http://gbolarts.com/pages/notes_archive/notes_006.html Also, there are some very good articles he's written on general practice here -- http://gbolarts.com/pages/notes_archive/tc_archive.html In any case, I have found that this standing practice tunes the body to feeling qi and actually moves the qi down from the top of your head to the feet. Bruce Frantzis (http://www.taichimaster.com) teaches this as the beginning of his Water Method (Daoist) meditation. He calls it "standing and releasing", where you start gently scanning your body from the crown point and work your way down to the soles of your feet. Anywhere you feel physical tension or sensation of "strength", you put your mind into that spot and simply relax that area. The energy will fall through down your body to the ground (via the soles of your feet). Don't overdo it, simply scan and release the tension. This is called becoming "sung" (relaxed). Once you are in the preparation form, you will automatically become relaxed. With time, the body will relax a lot. At that point your sensitivity to Qi will increase significantly. HTH, dwai

Jeffrey Kripal?!? You're pulling out really stinky, rotten carcasses out of the entrails of Western Indology/Acamedia aren't you? ;P I'd recommend reading http://www.invadingthesacred.com/ (http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/8129111829) for the gory details about authors such as Kripal, Wendy Doniger, Paul Courtright, Sara Caldwell, etc. They are classic specimens of what's wrong with Hinduism studies in the West (and they are or at least were the mount pieces for Indic studies for the most part in the West). Also I'd recommend reading the articles here -- http://www.medhajournal.com/medha-gold.html

Usually the case with U-turned, hybrid systems that try and remove the tradition part from the practice. However, there are valid points made in the excerpts that TI has posted. It is a good idea to stick to one system or a couple of complementary systems as long as the core philosophical framework of these are compatible (eg: Yoga and Taoist meditation/Taiji Chuan). And I totally disagree with the incompatibility between Yoga and Intellect comment. The whole purpose of Yoga is to turn the consciousness/body complex into a laboratory where the yoga practitioner is the subject and the researcher both, simultaneously. It is very essential to have an intellectual component to the practice otherwise it becomes dumb calisthenics. The lessons learned in a spiritual realm in Yoga are also applicable in the relative realm of civil life (at work, at home). Yoga should never stop and every instance should become a living embodiment of the Yoga practice. imho, it is not possible to properly enter dhyana before the intellectual turmoil created by stillness is not resolved. Samadhi is out of the question in such a case.

My maternal grand-uncle, a shakta tantrik and a sannyasi would sometimes(after great pestering) show people their future in a large conch filled with water ( iirc it was called a vishnu conch), ie visually. He also had the ability to prevent someone from leaving their physical body...he had to do that with his brother-in-law ( my mother's father) while he was in his deathbed. He did it so the family members could say their goodbyes...

It all seems very dubious to me...starting with the name - is it an acronym of some sort or an ignorant use of the word "yogini" which refers to a female yogi? And this potpuorri of styles being rebranded and sold by a mysterious individual and his propaganda machine adds to that dubious image.

Om pUrNamadah pUrNamidam pUrNAt pUrNamudachyate pUrNasya pUrNamAdAya pUrNamevAvashiShyate Om shAntih, shAntih, shAntihi [Completeness is that, completeness is this, from completeness, completeness comes forth. Completeness from completeness taken away, completeness to completeness added, completeness alone remains. Peace, peace, peace!]

no harm done...you're a good guy...i was just trying to drive a point home...