fiveelementtao

Dance with joy! This is Iba Oba part II. After the initiation, all of the village is invited to celebrate the successful initiation. The message of this song is that true joy is a discipline. True joy is a choice. The last verse has two syllables "Sho - Geh" Which means "Show it!" Meaning show your joy by dancing. This last verse is repeated 16 times. When drummers first learn this rhythm, most can only get out 4 repetitions of the last verse and then usually have difficulty keeping the timing. This is why the last verse is repeated 16 times. Because the lesson for drummers is that true joy is a discipline that takes practice and discipline to master. True celebration has a cost. In the case of the initiate, he/she has paid for the celebration with their initiation ordeal. In modern times, we seek celebration as a way to escape. We use alcohol, drugs etc... and we pay the price for that later with hangovers and other health issues and as time goes on it becomes harder and harder to celebrate. For those who follow the path of spiritual discipline, celebration becomes easier with time. True Joy is a learned practice...

This rhythm is called "Iba Oba" Many people learn this rhythm as "Baba's Warm-Up". What many don't know is that this is a very ancient Yoruba ritual rhythm... The drums are singing a chant of Initiation in ancient Yoruba language. The rhythm was used to welcome Chiefs into their village, but the esoteric meaning was to teach an Ifa initiate the process of Spiritual/Magical pursuits. The First verse says "Welcome to the King (Spirit)" This is the initiate investigating the call to follow the way of Spirit. The second verse says "I will follow the King (Spirit)" Here the initiate enjoys the feeling of the Power of Spirit and decides to become a Shaman. The Third verse says "Let us all follow the King (Spirit)" Here the initiate is filled with Zeal to spread the message of Ifa (Yoruba Spiritual Path) The Fourth verse says "Respect the Power of Transformation from Life to Death to Life (Shango)" The drum makes a loud crack which is the power of lightning. At this point the Universe has responded to the initiate's desire to share his faith and the Universe gives him/her real power to transform. This is the power of lightning. At this point the Initiate knows this power is VERY real and is forced to change internally... The Fifth verse says "Let us respect the power of the Spirit INDEED!" Here the initiate must take stock of him/herself and decide if he/she is ready for the power of true transformation.. The Sixth verse says "I will follow the Spirit forever and ever..." Here the initiate realizes there is no turning back from the Path, that he/she never had a choice to begin with. It was always the choice of Spirit to call one to the Path of a Shaman...

This is a Shamanic Drum Rhythm I learned from a Yoruba Drum Master and Ifa Shaman. My thanks to my Shakti drummers!

Numerous people from TTBs have contacted me with questions about Spirit Fighting training. So, to save repeating emails and for anyone else from TTB's interested, I will paste one of the email responses here. Again, my thanks to all who sent me encouraging PMs and emails... I won't be monitoring this thread, so any one with further questions can PM me or email me... Thanks, Mike For those not interested in Spirit Fighting, but are interested in advanced Celestial Nei Kung, there are multiple levels of that also, that I only teach in person. For celestial Nei Kung, I am open to teaching small group seminars. The pre-requisites for that are the same as stated above.. Blessings and peace to all, Mike

Hi everyone, Just a reminder, if you have questions directed specifically for me, please email or PM me. I do not want to engage in any public forum discussions for the time being. IME, if someone has a serious question they will be willing to put it in an email. If any of my students or those who have my DVDs want to put in their .02, please feel free. I will not be monitoring anyone's opinions or experiences. I plan on posting regular little vids of some of my favorite practices. but, outside of that,I am taking a vacation from any public forum interaction. Anyone else who feels like reminding people to email me with honest questions. It is appreciated. I am going to be observing radio silence starting..... now... (static) Blessings, Mike

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For golden flower, I suggest holding the mudra and concentrating on the Dan tien in question. The mudra is designed to channel energy into the dan tien and purify the energy and the Dan tien then processes the energy and sends it where it is needed. GF is a very simple but a very powerful practice. The mental aspect is to empty yourself. Mao Shan work is very simple. Do the practice with an open attitude with no expectations and don't force it. Golden flower can be done separately. I do it after my Mao Shan Martial exercises. It is very powerful. It concentrates the power of the forms and allows me to supercharge the dan tiens. One could do the same with Tai Chi or Ba Gua or Wu Ji Gong or whatever. GF channels energy into the dan tiens and strenghtens them... Other practitioners may have different ways of doing it. If it were me, I would do Five element Jongs in the morning to create energy for the day ahead. Golden flower can be done at that time as a close down and is a great way to consolidate the energy created from the jongs. I do my spontaneous at night before deeper meditation work. That is me. I do not know that there is a specific way for everyone. Working with a facilitator is a good way to individualize your own routine. My main point is that Yi gong, Jongs and GF were put together as s system by Max for a reason. Having talked with him about this a few times, I have learned that he has put together a complete system and these practices should be done together as a system in order to get the best results. The practices have a synergistic effect on each other. If people pick and choose what they want, they may or may not get optimal results. I've heard different, my understanding is that KL 1, 2 and 3 came from Jenny. But regardless My point is that Max has taught these things in this manner for a reason. If someone wants what he has they should do what he does...

Well, no wonder... Pick ONE and stick with it. Regardless of how you feel. You're at cross purposes with yourself. You can't mix and match this stuff all at the same time and expect to get clear results. These are very different practices designed to accomplish different energetic goals.. You can't expect huge results immediately especially if you are practicing from book or video without a teacher. This isn't like buying an over the counter drug. Energy cultivation requires discipline, patience and persistence... I would also highly recommend a teacher... Any practice is going to get boring. These disciplines were never meant to be instant fixes, they were meant to practiced for a lifetime... be patient and consider what you want from a discipline, not how it is supposed to feel...

To begin with, along with KL 1, I strongly recommend the standing postures and Golden flower meditation #1. KL will raise your vibration, the standing postures and the Golden flower will help ground the energy in the Lower dan tien. I would wait to start Golden flower 2 and 3 for at least a few months or until you begin KL2 and 3 respectively. IME, those who have problems with KL, do not ground enough with the other exercises... IME and IMO KL 1, 2 3 are best practiced in conjunction with Five Element Jongs and I Jong. Golden flower is necessary to process the energies through the dantiens. The other practices like traveling hands and red sun are auxiliary practices. The core practices are KL 1,2,3 - I Jong - 5 element Jongs - Golden Flower and a thorough closedown. IME, and IMO, these core practices should be practiced together as an overall unit for best and balanced results...

' Jenny taught Max the Formless Qigong, what Max calls Kunlun 1 - 3. The entirety of what Max calls Kunlun is a combination of Jenny Lambs Spontaneous Qigong and some Shang Ch'ing alchemy practices... so the idea is that (according to Max) he is reintegrating two lineage methods that were originally together... So, to answer your question Jenny's teachings are one part of the entire "Kunlun" body of practices. People tend to focus on the spontaneous practice, but it is only part of it...

No JK. It is not related to Kundalini yoga. I am a kundalini Yogi. Kunlun is very different. It is a taoist practice. I support you in whatever opinion you choose to have about it. But, you aren't going to get any kind of real understanding from reading a website page. If you want to understand what the practice actually is, you can get his book and see for yourself. Then at least you can formulate an educated opinion... Peace, Mike

A study in Irony here... You're serious? This is your only concern in life? You lurk around TTB's for two years and then post anonymously just because you want to make TTBs safe for someone to criticize Kunlun? So, the only function TTBs has is to ensure a forum for someone to criticize KL with impunity? If you are not Steve and are just some other random person patrolling the web making it safe for KL critics, then why fear being "compromised"? Is this some secret agent mission? As I see it, anyone is free to criticize any practice, we just need to have some civility about it... But, I digress.. The question still remains... Are you Steve? If you weren't Steve, you would simply say so. You don't have to reveal your identity... But since Steve is currently on suspension, it is a valid question. Are you Steve using multiple identities to avoid suspension? If you are Steve, then your sole desire to stay anonymous is because you are lying as to your identity in order to circumvent your suspension. Assuming you are Steve, I also find it ironic and possibly hypocritical that you seek to "expose" Kunlun and yet you yourself are afraid of being exposed.Yes... an entertaining journey into the heart of Irony. Don't keep bringing it up then... KL keeps slipping into obscurity until Steve brings it up. Steve does more to promote KL then anyone else! People have bought the book and started the practice because of Steve's publicising of it.. Now, that's Irony! So, if you are not Steve, just say so, I'm sure it can be determined one way or another... As Judge Judy says... "If you tell the Truth, you don't have to try and keep your story straight."... To me the evidence is pretty overwhelming, but, if you are not Steve, My apologies... Moderators, If I have overstepped the line please let me know...

The J Man came to my aid once fighting a very nasty demon. He is no slouch... No Siree! His name does carry power. I have never seen more fear than in that Demon's eyes when he saw Jesus! It is too bad that most of those who ride on his coat tails have no idea what he taught...

Maharasa, I tried to PM you, not sure if it worked. PM me if you are interested in a phone session. Mike

Power to you, my friend, Jack... I agree with your viewpoint. We can choose where we give our power or not. That isn't to say that it is always easy. I have quit some pretty powerful substances in my day, but quitting cigarettes was the worst.. it was more difficult than booze, pills, weed, coke... So, I do not wish to minimize anyone's struggle. I would like to be clear about this. Addiction is NOT a sign of weakness. The reason why quitting these substances is so difficult is because by doing them, we set up an ever increasing chemical cycle which creates dependence on many levels. What many of these substances do is flood our bodies with chemicals that are either identical to chemicals released naturally by our glands or they mimic them. When these substances enter our blood stream our bodies detect their presence and tell the glands in our body to STOP producing them because it is interpreted as an overload. So, that is one reason we become dependent. These are chemicals we need and without them we are out of balance. So, the first part of quitting is the hardest because our glands have to start not from zero but from less than zero... Quitting a substance can be extremely difficult for this reason. Not only do we have to struggle with the detox and any mental or emotional withdrawals, but, our glands have to start back up again and begin producing these chemicals naturally. So, it can be extremely challenging. So, I do not recommend minimizing the struggle. Because of the stigma of dependence being labeled as weakness people naturally want to show that they can do it no problem... It is not that simple. It is OK to be dependent. What matters is on what we are dependent. I am completely addicted to my practice and I totally dependent on the energy I get from the universe. If that makes me weak, so be it... But I want to be dependent on something that feeds me, not something that drains me over time... The other aspect of why so many spiritual seekers use substances is because these substances produce the same chemicals that are produced during energy cultivation. So, it is no surprise to me that people who use substances also are on this forum. It does not indicate to me they are weak, it indicates that they are called to a spiritual lifestyle. The good news is that we can still enjoy similar effects that substances give us, but IME, when they are produced naturally through regular cultivation, it is much, much better and without any negative physical side effects. It does take longer but it is well worth it... I want to be clear about something else... I LOVE getting high. That is one main reason I practice Tao. It gets me really stoned... I have been practicing my art for almost 20 years, and I can tell you that the high I get from my practices now is WAAAAAAY better and more powerful than any substance I used. So, please know that if I am being a hard-ass about this, it is not because I judge anyone for wanting to get high, but because I want people to experience the real thing and sometimes one has to be a hard ass to break through the wall of denial... It is not my intention to tell people what to do. If someone wants to get high, that is their right. I just want people who are serious about spiritual cultivation to know that some of us who have been doing this for awhile have learned through experience that using substances will not help in energy cultivation. So, at least people can make an educated choice. Whatever that choice is, is your right. And as long as I am on this forum and someone wants to say that using substances will help you without any negative consequences, I want there to be at least one voice to give an answer from experience... Blessings and Strength to all, Mike

Hi Capital... If it becomes really difficult, don't hesitate to seek out 12 step meetings like A. A. or N.A. or M.A. There is no shame in admitting that we need help. I certainly did. I was not able to quit alone... Ya Mu is a great teacher... good luck to you...

No. I'm not playing that game with you. I have no desire to get into a semantics argument with you. You're too good at it. Don't sell yourself short. You are smart enough to understand my viewpoint perfectly. You just don't like it and you think that if you can out-argue me semantically that somehow that will change my opinion... I do have many years of experience dealing with addiction and have been considered enough of an expert to work in the field. IME and IMO ANYTHING can be addictive and can be abused. Even the rush of forum arguments. Just for the record, I have never addressed you personally about addiction or abusing substances and yet this isn't the first time you have reacted defensively as though I were addressing you personally... And on that note, I am retiring from this thread... I know when I'm being lured down a dead end dark alley...

TM, my incredibly smart, intellectual sister... I don't agree with you. My definition of Drug is different than yours and whomever you mentioned. That's OK with me. We will just have to agree to disagree... I don't agree there either. Any powerful substance or experience can be abused no matter how sacred...

Oy... TM. That was some slick semantics, bravo!... But,... back to the point... Call it whatever you want, if you use it in its' original, sacred cultural context, great... But Drew is abusing it like a drug in place of real cultivation and he knows it...

You make some good points, Drew but they don't favor your position... Strange was my reaction to the spirit of your post, not my opinion. My meaning was that your post was incongruous in context with the spirit of this thread which was to thank our teachers not bag on them... Your post did not come across as a deep insight but as an unconscious aggressive attack on teachers and showed an emotional disconnect to what was being shared by others. That is why I thought it was strange... Your posts have become more and more disconnected than usual... Drew, you are a smart guy and I know you care alot about people so I feel for you... But you are purposefully distorting words and deflecting. DMT, if produced naturally by the pineal gland as a result of practice is healthy and a sign of progression in cultivation. But if you are ingesting the chemical in order to mimic the pineal's natural function in order to artificially produce a spiritual experience this is unhealthy and not "Nature" as you call it. When your body senses the artificial DMT, it will tell the pineal to stop naturally producing it. This will cause the body to crave it, which will cause you to seek to take more of it. This is how addiction occurs. This will result in dependence and weaken the pineal's ability to secrete naturally and will result in it being harder and harder for you to have success in your cultivation.. I know you already know this. So, yes if you are taking any chemical to achieve a state of mind, that is drug use. You may tell yourself that your just taking a short cut but I know you don't really believe that... Drew, my friend, you are nice guy, but your posts are feeling increasingly more disjointed and I feel more and more pain coming from them. You are obsessed with DMT, pineal gland, full lotus etc... You throw around Sifu Lin's name, but you knowingly brag about antics he would advise against. You are more and more focused on experiences rather than understanding and growth... This is not Tao... Having powerful spiritual experiences in themselves is not Tao. They are just experiences and are the definition of illusion. So, by your own reasoning, your experiences are illusory and it makes no difference if you are in full lotus or not. I truly hope you are awesome, but when I read your posts, I feel sadness, frustration, isolation, confusion and loneliness coming from them...

What a strange thing to say in the context of this thread... So, drugs are your teachers now? What about about Chunyi lin? Is he an illusion also? Drew... you're starting to slip away even more than usual. I sense alot of sadness and lonliness... Are you alright?