Walker

Is there a chance I could trouble you to expand on this statement? Or else, if there is a book/article that goes into depth on the topic, please let me know (I can read Chinese). Thanks!

Ah, yep, thought you might be talking about that one.

Haha, you know! I know rappers with longer retirements. Howzabout a new Cam'ron avatar for Cameron, with the perfect album title to match... Dipset!

Sounds interesting. May I ask who wrote this text?

Eh? The media here is nearly as full as violence as anywhere else I have been. When Khaddafi got killed last year they had video whole fiasco playing almost ceaselessly on the TVs in the subways in Shanghai for days, all day long. Suffice to say I saw plenty of tiny children staring transfixedly at the bloody scene during that period. Ditto for the recent pictures of US soldiers posing with Afghan fighters' body parts... Right there on the subway TV for all to see. People die all the time in the movies and TV shows here.

Thanks for the info and the interview. Funny, they say his name is "Gaodeng" in the video but the other website says "Gaocheng." Ah, the wonders of 多音字...

With all due respect, anybody who bases his/her practice on Google translations is going to cultivate little more than a pounding headache!

He is giving a commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower. If this stuff is intended for public viewing, then I was going to say I could do English subtitles, but unfortunately the sound quality is awful. Somebody with better ears than I have would have to do it. Here is a written commentary on the same text, also apparently by Wang Liping: http://www.360doc.com/content/09/0815/10/223069_4931534.shtml

Much gratitude.

Thank you. Is it fair to say that the key difference between spontaneous movements arriving during other practices and those arising during Stillness-Movement practice is that connection to the lineage "tunes" one into the heavenly vibrations associated with the lineage? I have had the fortune to spend a lot of time in the White Cloud Monastery and it is indeed a special place; my meeting with that monk has to have been the most memorable hour I ever spent there, followed only by my first spring evening practicing bagua after hours in the courtyard with swallows diving in and out between the temples and incense burners, the noise and pollution of the Beijing just beyond the temple walls completely forgotten. Ah, the feng shui.

Thanks for the comment, though I only wonder if it would be practical. I already do two, three, or more hours a day of my current practices--I know myself well enough to know that I would not find the time to devote enough time to Stillness Movement Neigong to be of use to others as a healer. As for my own cultivation, I have found things that have brought me both joy and stability in life... Slowly I am learning to stop always looking for greener grass on the other side, and just stay put! It is pretty good grass where I am, after all. Actually, I might as well use my time to ask the biggest question that your book left with me when I got a chance to get a copy (for Christmas haha) last year. It is very roundabout, so please forgive the lenght of my question. Here goes: I have the learned movement, standing, and sitting techniques that I practice from two teachers who were trained in the Wudang Longmen lineage. In 2006, when I first began standing, spontaneous movements erupted with great drama and violence. For various reasons, I did not practice seated or standing meditation with regularity again until early 2010, when again the spontaneous movements arrived as soon as I was able to reach a certain degree of stillness. This time--as I had matured greatly as well as had a ghost removed from my body by a capable shaman in the interim--the spontaneous movement, though often extraordinarily intense, lacked violence. My main teacher described what was happening as zifagong (自发功), and this assessment was confirmed by other qigong healers and teachers I knew in China, all of whom were non-plused by what was going on and would only caution me to make sure that I did not ever lose control. I never lost control, nor did I ever feel was coming close to doing so--if a phone were to ring, or a knock to come at my door, at any time I could close the practice at will. Nor did I ever have spontaneous movement errupt suddenly on the subway, or anything like that. Later I had a chance to run my experiences by a very respected Daoist monk at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing, and his response was, "the more you move on the outside, the stiller you should become in the inside. Do not get carried away by the movements. There is nothing to be afraid of." In China I have had a chance to rub shoulders with other Daoists, students of Master Nan Huaijin, dedicated practitioners of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and representatives of other qigong traditions in China, all of whom are aware of the possibility that spontaneous movement can arise in practice. Additionally, the famous 20th century authors Yin Shih Zi (the English version of one of his books is called Tranquil Sitting) and Chen Yingning both wrote in detail about the phenomenon of spontaneous "gong" arising during practice, and the benefits it can hold for the practitioner. Meanwhile, a small number of practitioners I have met (a Buddhists nun; a young TCM doc who practices Yi Quan and Tibetan Buddhism; a young and relatively inexperienced teacher of Hui Chun Gong 回春功 qigong; a tea master; a teacher of Zhineng Gong 智能功 qigong) all adamantly oppose the phenomenon, some of them going so far as to insist that it leads to insanity. Bringing this back to the question of my own practice, I have indeed seen great benefits come to my life during the last two years, when I have experienced zifagong. These benefits include increased energy and vitality, the ability to learn more quickly, increased compassion and kindness, greater calmness and tranquility, greater acceptance of life's circumstances, increasing joy and contentment, better interpersonal relationships, and the occasional arrival of insights into the spiritual and philosophical texts I enjoy studying. While I was reading your book, I was surprised to see that the preparatory steps for practicing Stillness Movement were very similar to what I have been taught from the Wudang Longmen. Similar, also, were the closing techniques. When I finished the book, I could not but wonder, am I not already going through something almost the same as Stillness Movement Neigong? And if the answer is no, when one considers that what has arisen for me in standing and on the cushion is spontaneous, then what is the difference between what I have experienced and what a practitioner of Stillness Movement goes through? Finally, is there a difference between the spontaneous movements that many Buddhists, Daoists, and practitioners of other qigong methods acknowledge, and what unfolds for a person who is specifically practicing Stillness Movement? While reading the book, I really was not able to sort this out. If you have time to answer, I would greatly appreciate it!

The stories from this tradition are always amazing and inspiring. Sometimes I feel that if I did not enjoy the bagua and standing that I practice so much, I would try to come study with you guys. Who knows, maybe someday. Life is very short, but it is also very long! I am glad to see that Findley was banned. His attitude strikes me now as it did two years before as borderline megalomaniacal. He could be a dangerous person if he does not wisen substantially before gaining some influence wherever he finds himself in life.

Well, don't waste money on hash, then.

Whoa, Findley is back! How went your adventures in China? Your studies of the language? Your interaction with teachers there? I have always wondered.

I can't directly speak on what the lotus posture can or can't do, but I think that the first sentence Joe Blast has given you cannot be understated. In China there is the phrase, 动则生阳: movement gives birth to yang. Your condition certainly sounds like one of yang insufficiency. In fact, even your statement, "maybe something that doesn't take more than 20 minutes so i can focus on my sitting practices," is an indicator of this. As one of my closest teachers has said more than once, "when the student is inclined to sit more and more, this is generally a sign that s/he needs to practice more movement. When the student is inclinded to move more and more, this is generally a sign that s/he needs to practice more sitting." In my opinion, garnered in part from personal experience, in part from listening to teachers, and in part from observing patients visiting the TCM doctors I study with in China, this point is really very important if you want to overcome the health problems you've mentioned. If you really only have twenty minutes to spare but want to get your yang qi moving, then I am inclined to suggest that, like Joe Blast says, you do something that really gets you to "break a sweat, motivate fluids of all sorts, eat, rest." Motivating fluids is probably very important for a person reporting a weak immune system--you gotta get that lymph fluid moving! I don't know anything about rebounding but Mr. Lomax certainly seems to know his stuff, so you might want to look into that. If you want to get the kind of results you're looking for from gentler practices, you're probably going to need to invest more time. As another of my teachers says, "gong fu is nothing other than the time you spend." I've been seeing great improvements in my health lately with nothing more than an increase in my standing and circle-walking practices. But we're talking 45 minutes of the former and 1 1/2 to 2 hours of the latter, day in, day out. A mere twenty minutes of either ain't gonna do ya! Conversely, I have a lot of friends out here who wish for major health benefits from a quarter or half hour of gentle taiji or qigong movements done here and there. Others in our modern world where most people barely move all day somehow dream of fixing their body with even more sitting! Unfortunately, from what I see around me, this path just doesn't seem to work unless you're at such a high level that your internal qi movement is as great or greater than what you would get from serious exercise. I only know two people at that level. One is 89 and lives in a cave, the other meditates all day and barely eats. Us normal folk require movement!

What you have touched can be, from what I understand, crucial. I am sorry to say that I lack the experience to speak much further, other than to say this: I have been told that guidance is necessary when working with this region. Bruce Frantzis also writes as much.

In China I am often asked, "do you believe in Dao? Do you believe in the Buddha?" 你信道吗?你信佛吗? The character used in this sentence for "believe" is 信, xin4, which consists of an ideograph of a person (人) and the word for words/speech/to talk (言). If one understands 信 to depict "what people say," then "believing" in Dao would seem to be an act contrary to the strong statement made in the first lines of the Daodejing. One of my teachers has said, "Daoists are interested in real knowledge," so replying that I don't believe does not amount to a negation of notions of the subtle found throughout Daoist (and Buddhist) discourse. I would say it is instead closer to being open-minded, detached, innocent, simple, and not-(yet)-gnostic. Nevertheless, as I have been told by more than one Daoist, it is of real value for practitioners to have faith.

There are also a few free lectures online which you can find by Googling "Jeffrey Yuen mp3." Excellent stuff.

You may find this thread interesting. By the way, he is still listed on the Swedish Institute in New York City's website as dean of acupuncture. However, that is no longer the case, and he is now affiliated with the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, specifically its New York campus. I called there not long ago to inquire as to how often he teaches. In fact, he does not offer classes as a regular member of the faculty and only appears occasionally for seminars. The dean there suggested that a person primarily interested in his teachings consider taking classes with Dr. Yuen directly at his own organization, the Jade Purity Society. For the record, PCOM in New York does claim to offer a Classical Chinese Medicine curriculum in New York City (but not San Diego and Chicago) that is modeled on Yuen's teachings, but a closer look at their course selection handbook reveals that there seems to be little difference between their normal curriculum and that inspired by Yuen. Per curiosity, what recordings of his have you heard, and where can one access them? Can his transcripts be found online?

Friend: both of your points are quite wrong. For the sake of others and yourself, please be more careful before posting so confidently. Not good to sew seeds of confusion. For one, Snomonki has posted accurate information. I have bowed before Guanyin aka the boddhisattva mahasattva arya Avalokiteshvara aka Chenrezig aka Kannon aka The Lord Who Looks Down at the World many a time in the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing, as well as at many, many other Daoist temples in China. Holy Mt. Wudang, a Daoist holy mountain through-and-through, in many places provides shrines dedicated to Guanyin. In many Daoist temples I have been to Guanyin is named 慈航 (Ci2 Hang2; Compassionate Navigator could be a translation for this name, perhaps suggesting navigation upon the 苦海 ku3hai3, the "sea of bitterness/suffering" that is our dusty world) but in the placards explaining the deity's name it is always explained that Cihang is Guanyin. Conversely, along the mountain path at the Buddhist Red Snail Temple (红螺寺) outside of Beijing there are many statues depicting Guanyin's many manifestations. There again one finds the appearance of the name Cihang applied to one or more versions of the deity. For two, it may also be noted that the three foundation texts of Complete Reality Daoism (全真派) are Daoism's own Dao De Jing, Confucianism's Classic on Filialty (my translation of the title of the Chinese text named 孝经) and the Heart Sutra. A quick reading of the Heart Sutra will confirm to you that Guanyin, whose name is usually rendered in English versions of this sutra as Avalokiteshvara, is absolutely central to the text: he/she expounds the core teaching! For three, Guanyin is not the only deity to show up in both traditions. For example: it has been said that the Jade Emperor of Daoism is Indra, who shows up in both Hinduism and Buddhism and is recognized as a Dharma Protector in Buddhism (according to Ven. Master Hsuan Hua, founded of the Land of 10,000 Buddhas in California). I have also seen it written that Laozi is recognized by some Buddhists as an incarnation of a particular Bodhisattva, but the precise names I long ago forgot. If anybody knows, I would love to see the information here. Finally, as my teacher has put it: Daoists recognize that the wisdom of the Heart Sutra is universal and so study it. Furthermore, all Daoists aspire to the boundless compassion embodied by Guanyin. From 百度百科: "慈航真人也是佛教中所供奉的观音，道、佛二教互相渗透、互相吸收，共同信仰." 阿弥陀佛.

To add a few: -"Image Medicine," the medical qigong taught at an international medical qigong academy in Beijing by Master Xu Mingtang and his senior students. Xu Mingtang has been invited to present at Harvard, has treated US congresspeople's family members, and has a wide following in Eastern Europe... More info at Kundawell -Wan Su Jian qigong, though I have no idea if external healing techniques are taught to people who aren't on his staff -Puti Gong (菩提功) -Master Pei Xi Rong's Wudang qigong involved medical applications of the sort being discussed here, although I don't know if anybody is currently teaching it this way or serving as a healer In China I have come across some smaller lineages (family, Buddhism-derived, Daoism-derived), as well as practitioners of Buddhism and Daoism who apparently have developed the ability to fagong (发功) as side effects of practice, even though they are not specifically working towards being qigong healers.

I did about three or four months of it while hitchhiking down in New Zealand a few years ago. Overall a fun experience. Met a lot of interesting people, got a lot of sun and exercise, generally ate pretty damn well, and yes, got exploited a just a little bit. I like working and at the time prized mobility and free time more than money, so it worked for me. My only gripe may only apply to the NZ organization, and if their website has changed since 2008, may no longer stand. Anyway, here it is: I think there needed to be a well-organized way for WWOOFers to get online and make public, easy-to-find comments next to the profiles of hosts. I say this because one host I worked for was out of his mind, and not pleasantly so. He waved chainsaws around carelessly and expected us to perform all sorts of nearly-acrobatic work while working with blunt (read: very dangerous) chainsaws; he tried to short us on food and were my traveling buddy and myself not rather forceful types, may have weaseled his way out of paying up; he drove like a madman in a car loaded with 20 years worth of junk but no seatbelts, and could not be convinced to pay attention to safety (actually, the very word "safety" irked this man); he would quite possibly have been dangerous for a female WWOOFing alone to be around; and he generally wouldn't shut up with his preposterous anti-Islamic paranoid 2012 ranting as well as other sundry racism, homophobia, etc. A true megalomaniac convinced of his glorious enlightenment, he coaxed WWOOFers in with a tale of him having spent years in the Himalayas meditating with top Tibetan lamas blah blah blah blah. After all was said and done, now that I think of it, I should have reported the man and was irresponsible not to have done so. On the other hand, the organization is so anonymous (buy the host directory book in a healthfood store... you are now a member) and faceless that I didn't know who the heck to talk to. If the country you WWOOF in doesn't have a website where you can check in and see what has been said about various potential hosts, then be careful, as I doubt I ran into the only wacko who's a listed host. That said, everybody else I met both when WWOOFing and Couch Surfing ranged from wonderful to normal, which is good enough for me.

Proof I obviously cannot provide. However, here is the best I can do for you: Step 1: Go to www.baidu.com Step 2: In the search box paste in the terms "南怀瑾 抽烟" and/or "南怀瑾 喝酒" Step 3: Click on the links, use translation software such as that provided by Google or Yahoo! to read more. Step 4: Dismount high horse Step 5: Drink a refreshing and relaxing beverage Step 6: Chill.