dwai

Well said Luke! The most progress happens when we let our defenses down and open ourselves up. After that, if someone tries to "hurt" us, it is their problem, not ours.

I am most interested in finding out more about this — if you would like to share.

In our system (Temple style), we are repeatedly reminded to let go of artificial knowledge, acquired mental conditioning, so we can become like a child - not judging, not categorizing as “me and other” or “friend and foe”, etc. The adage “no enemy, no self” is a simple statement but its significance reverberates in all aspects of life (especially as we go deeper into that practice/way of life). But I have to admit that it is very hard to live by in the transactional world — at least in many aspects thereof. One of the most humbling experiences of my life so far, has been in the process of reconciling of my professional objectives with the dropping of ambition (attachment). As it unfolds, often in profoundly confounding ways, the dropping of personality identification causes turmoil...in family life and therefore in professional life.

Depends on what the system claims to do. If it claims to benefit your physical health and energy levels — look for that in the teacher, and more importantly his/her longer term students. The politics aspect of it has an impact — one of my friends is left oriented politically and is the only one with that mindset in his school. His teacher and most other students are right leaning (moderate to extreme). He told me he finds it hard to train there and so avoids going to their main location. Since he is also an instructor of the system (this is not qigong though, but a Chinese martial art) he prefers to work with a smaller number of students. My first teacher was very left leaning, but never tried to impose his views on us. My current teacher is neutral for the most part but doesn’t hesitate to say something when he finds it might be helpful for us on the path, or if he sees us going down a path that would be detrimental to us spiritually. For the most part he doesn’t try to influence our views. Personally, I think we should speak up if we find something is going in the wrong direction, but not get attached to the drama. Political activism or even activism in general (even your garden variety - arguing on social media or among friends) is a very emotional thing, and is not good for spiritual growth.

How realized masters choose to go depends on what lesson they want to leave for their students/disciples and/or due to the momentum of their prarabdha karma. Sri Ramakrishna died from cancer. He could have chosen to depart anytime he wanted, but he chose to physically suffer through the cancer so his students could see that he was “unaffected” through the physical suffering. Paramahamsa Yogananda set up conditions for his physical body to not show signs of decay for days after his clinical death. He wanted to demonstrate to his students the power of Kriya yoga.

I’ve found that each individual goes through a journey to reach this conclusion. Sometimes the journey spans lifetimes

source -- https://www.wussu.com/laotzu/laotzu20.html

Current times are certainly difficult to simply rest, even if it is for a short period. The energetic aspect of the world is in agitation (though I feel the agitation is reduced in some parts of the world). With this kind of agitated energy, comes a restlessness that puts the mind into perpetual motion (even more so than it might otherwise be). Recently a friend told me that a good idea is to simply rest for 5 minutes at a time -- which I've taken up. Instead of sitting for a long period of time (or try to find a time for prolonged stillness), just take 5 minutes every hour or so, and let go of everything just be. Let your mind drop into the middle of the chest, and rest there. It is kind of like mindfulness meditation, but we are being mindful of not doing anything, that's all.

one of the things needed for meditation is patience. Meditation

Hi, you have to learn how to sink the Qi to the lower abdomen. To learn to sink the Qi, you need to learn how to stand properly first.

There is conscious opening and there is subconscious opening (or closing). Someone might profess to be open but be subconsciously closing themselves out (or vice versa). So there might be something going on, but YMMV. Usually, when the heart opens up, it is an irreversible thing. One can choose whether or not to make a connection with another person, but it is not closing out per se. There are no harmful effects afaik...just that it might cause some "withdrawal" (sadness, etc) depending on how close and intense the bond is, and how mature the individuals are. Selfless Love is the love that arises from the recognition of the underlying oneness of being. The physical and psychological separateness of different "persons" is only apparent -- underlying everyone is already One Consciousness.

Inadvertent or deliberate?

Hi and welcome. The term tantric gets used very liberally, and it is not simply about the act of procreation. Tantra works at the level of our minds and life energy, allowing for purification, and eventual spiritual awakening/enlightenment following certain ritualistic and contemplative means. In order for it to be successful, it requires initiation by a teacher who has significant proficiency in the system. So, no, it is not possible to be in a tantric relationship in that way without being formally initiated — and even then, “relationships” are of a different kind than is normally connoted (amorous) by the term. It is however possible to be in a relationship with energetic elements to it — depending on the energetic access and sensitivity of both parties involved. At the deepest level, a relationship really about consciousness and energy. If your spiritual heart is open, as is that of the other person in the relationship, it will naturally transcend body-emotion attachment and start exploring the deeper alchemical aspects of the relationship. Guidelines for that — don’t do anything without mutual consent, and always on the basis of selfless love.

for that last point I’d say, spiritual texts and commentaries have really not been “stripped” of their magic, so much as the magic is lost due to the limitations of the English language. That makes me wonder how much difference in psychology exists within the western world between Russian speakers, German, French, Spanish etc vs English speakers? I suppose language does have a role to play in the way the mind operates... Good for you (and of course if I’ve mentioned that author, it is with great derision alone). I’d have lost all hope for you if did actually like it

Very interesting ideas. I find the biggest drawback of the “western” (aka modern - and it is prevalent in all urban cultures today) mindset is that it is too rigid vis-a-vis the “scientific” framework. Most people aren’t even really scientific in the truest sense though — they are either practicing (most) or recovering materialists. This materialistic model of the world is what they call “scientific”. Until the primordial role of consciousness is brought into and accepted by mainstream “science” (i.e., rejection of absolute materialism), the modern individual is going to be significantly handicapped in their ability to even understand, let alone manifest spiritual truth. Fascinating thoughts about the subtle body/subtle realm. Thoughts & ideas always exist in the collective consciousness (universal mind), which are attracted by individual minds based on habitual patterns. In the Vedantic model, we call these “Vasanas” or “samskaras”. These exist in seed form in the causal realm. Each “individual” entity has their own storehouse of such impressions/patterns (called “karmic fruits” or causal phenomena). There are certain kinds of patterns that develop as a result of the culture in which the individuals exist/grow up/live. So more such patterns form. A large proportion of individuals of that cultural context will gravitate towards similar patterns, thus drawing into their minds from the subtle realm thoughts and ideas that resonate with their specific set of causal patterns.

Found this...

I have a friend (was a Professor of Philosophy in StonyBrook University) who, along with his wife (also a PhD with focus on biomedical sciences) developed a system they call "Biocultures". According to them, different cultural contexts rely on different modalities for cognition and thinking. https://www.medhajournal.com/the-biocultural-paradigm-the-neural-connection-between-science-and-mysticism/ https://www.medhajournal.com/neurobiology-and-yoga-from-the-gods-of-the-amygdala-to-the-god-of-the-heart/ For the TL;DR read the quoted section below -- http://www.antoniotdenicolas.com/biocultures.html

I first came across this theory in Wang Liping's book "Opening the Dragon Gate". His theory is that the closer farther (north) we get to the equator, the lower our LDT moves. P.S. Not sure about how that plays out for in the Southern Hemisphere, but it might be similar. Closer to the equator, the LDT is closer to the navel region.

I'd call that imagining as well -- "Imagine you're holding a ball", which allows us to establish the right way to shape our palms The imagination should be only for the purpose of maintaining the shape/size initially. It takes on its own life afterward.

Wonderful talk by Wee Kee Jin

Assuming we mean the same thing when we say “imagine”... how would you hold a taiji ball without imagining it, when you don’t feel it yet? The intention will induce the Ball to form, and that in turn creates a self-reinforcing loop with the energy. Just holding the hands in that shape (of holding a ball) will induce it — there’s no special imagination required (IME). But along with forming the shape with our palms, we then have to pay attention to the sensations that arise in between them. Initially the mind might say, “I’m just imagining it”. Then it is imperative to not dismiss it as made up/imagined, but continue to pay attention in a non-judgmental way. Over time, the repetitive observation will make it apparent that it is not made up...there is something there and then it grows stronger and stronger. For example, when learning to reverse parallel parking, it helped me to imagine I was (ie me and the car as an extension of my body) a snake or lizard, wiggling it’s way into the spot...these are just tools to help with our proprioception. It certainly helps to work on it in a smaller scale (hold a softball first) until we start feeling the magnetic pull and push. And then it will expand to size of a soccer ball, basket ball, beach ball, etc etc.

I recommend you take up a practice of moving meditation — if available near you, take up Chen taiji. I suspect you need something more physically demanding. http://practicalmethod.com/

It is perfectly okay to use the mind to focus on the generation of the taiji ball...it becomes very palpable and tangible in a matter of weeks to months. Of course the volume, size etc will continue to grow, as will the ability to adjust/split/join/expand/contract etc. The long form is CMC long form because as I was told, Master Liao wanted to honor CMC (who was his friend). But in Temple style, long form is not the primary focus -- it is only used as a tool to validate the ability to transition in taiji state between individual forms (that are chained together in the long form). wrt white crane — I've heard a few unverifiable sources claim this -- none of my teachers have ever acknowledged this, including one of his earliest students who is currently my teacher.

Try this out with a hollow fist — laogong once activated will not close out. In fact a lot of taiji application can happen with a hollow fist. For example, the hook hand of single whip is not a beak that many people think it to be. It is a hollow fist with the thumb and index finger lightly pinching together . Inside the hollow fist is a condensed taiji ball. Condensed taiji ball inside hollow fists is a very potent way to apply power. I don’t think it’s a good idea to train with weights btw — neither a heavy ball nor dumbbells or kettlebells. Weapons are different because you use them to extend and direct the Jin (like with the Jian where the Jin goes to the tip), or the blade edge of a broadsword, tip of spear etc. I agree. I think a better way to train is by dealing with active incoming force — in two person drills. I’ve heard him mention that in context of benchpresses too...and when I was experimenting with weights (barbell, bench press, deadlifts), I didn’t see any tangible muscular changes, as my fascia would conduct the force through out the body — and I became really “strong”. I stopped that because it was changing things at the mental level — which was interfering with meditation.

It’s not that hard really...just loosely grip the dumbbells in hollow fists. Not sure about Rasmus, but Master Liao’s lineage is not from any family style as far as I know. He trained with a Daoist monk who lived near/in his village in Taiwan (that it is from the southern Daoist tradition per some of our seniors).