hagar

I wrote a post on spontaneous qigong and how to "hack it" on my lame blog. It´s time to take the mystery out of spontaneous movement. Its as magical as burping or yawning, but for the body, they are pretty great... But don´t get all worked up about it. No one wants to focus their entire training regimen on it. Yawn when tired, burp when you must. Dont force it, and all is fine. Spontaneous movement is actually happening all the time when we practice, but we supress it . Enhancing it, is the key. Some forms of it may be facilitated by a teacher, like throwing gasoline on a fire.

Women!

Ahh, yesterday I laid down and took a nap under my favourite birch tree in the autum sun with my son. When I laid down, I was exhausted and had an oncoming flu. As I woke up abit later, a sweet calm had entered me. Lying there looking at the leaves, I felt refreshed and at at ease. Then it dawned on me that my tonsils were no longer hurting, and all signs of the flu were gone. I thanked the tree, and thought what wonderful creatures they are. A healer I once knew told me that it's good to stand underneath birch trees. What's your experience with trees?

From recent "findings" in my own practice a whole array of concepts in the terminology of Inner alchemy that previously eluded me, suddenly are crystal clear. From what I feel there is no lasting realization without a physical And spiritual interchange of polarities. In short, real liberation is the outcome of the process between the spiritual spark of essence, and the physical condensed Yin point. The collecting of the spiritual spark (yang) into the physical point (yin) is what creates the human being, true health, true nature of physical presence. In contrast, just cultivating the essence without the life will disperse life, as the spiritual energy or spark has no anchoring into the physical, thus deteriorating the physical (yin). This can actually be felt in the body. I think this may also be the reason why many realized buddhist or hindu masters died so young. Pure awareness without a physical condensated point will disperse. Thoughts? h

This is it.

Seeing Felix Baumbgartner's immense act of courage as he stepped into the void, and fell to earth at Mach 1.3, I sat glued to my computer. His words before he stepped off, and his tiny body dissappeared towards earth was" I'm coming home now". He also said, it takes getting this high to realize how small we are. The message being more profound than maybe even himself realized at that moment. What struck me about this feat was the simple and profound realization of what constitutes all of our lives, in a spiritual and profane way; We all yearn for this home, our earth. In spiritual practice, we all stand on this earth, we all commune with it. It makes sense, reading astronauts accounts of what they felt when they saw the earth from space for the first time. Many of them had deep and profoud transformations of their lives, just realizing their intimate relationship to this blue orb. This act of seeing, sensing our fragile existence is dependent on this relationship is the ultimate spiritual practice. There is nowhere to go, we are allready home. In qigong or mediation, this is all one can do. Just stand, sit, on this earth. I wrote a blog post about the man who held the previous record for the longest freefall, a record that he set in the 60's, Captain Joseph Kittinger. Kittingers words about his experience are worth reading, and skip over my own ramblings: http://freeandeasywa...highest-step-2/ h

Wonderful. Thank you. I can totally relate. I also have experienced this strange combination of elation and ease, when climbing. I have written about that here earlier. I thought what you describe is really moving. The feeling of being watched over, being in the lap of a greater being. The sense of presence as you are further from the actual interaction. I have this feeling when I am up in a plane. A strange feeling of familiarity, of coming to my senses, as if I can only recognize what I have when I see it from a distance. Like this urge to see the entire face of my origin from beyond the clouds. I don't know if this is relevant, but as a teen I always went windsurfing on the fjord in the afternoons after school. I went all the way out in the middle of the fjord, and as the sun was setting, and the waves crashed around me, I jumped off my board, and just laid on my back in the ocean, filled with this immense peace and rest. What you said about feeling no change, like being up there and down there and there being nothing different, brought a tear to my eye. My experience exactly in many occasions in my own risk-related activites, like climbing or steep skiing. This sense of complete mundane ordinariness filled with a sense of awe. I saw Baumgartner fall to earth, and when he touched ground, and the heli filmed his body from above, I saw it almost like a symbolic act. I am probably over-interpreting, but the nature of the flat earth, the white space suit, and the moment of kneeling down was just precious. The vast expance of space, of heaven above, the vast earth belov, and finally home, this tiny fragile human body. Look at this from Baugartner's perspective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2e0IXa9RRw PS. thanks Seth and Michael h

One might ask if we are not all brilliant. Very few are blessed with both intelligence and wisdom. In my book, the only mark of genius is silence. Tao Te ching, Chapter 71 Knowing ignorance is strength. Ignoring knowledge is sickness. If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick. The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness. Therefore he is not sick.

Before claiming that geniuses are superior to the idiots, look abit closer. Does not excellence and intelligence depend on the foolish, the morons to be what they are. If you want to commune with the gods, how should depending on anything help? More often than not, the one's claiming to be brilliant are the idiots, creating havoc, and the truly brilliant realize how little they know. Even better is to look even closer: What is knowledge? Does a genius know much or little? The most idiotic things in the world have been implemented by the worlds smartest men. Because they think they know. From Tao Te Ching; Chapter 20 Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles. Is there a difference between yes and no? Is there a difference between good and evil? Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense! Other people are contented, enjoying the sacrificial feast of the ox. In spring some go to the park, and climb the terrace, But I alone am drifting, not knowing where I am. Like a newborn babe before it learns to smile, I am alone, without a place to go. Others have more than they need, but I alone have nothing. I am a fool. Oh, yes! I am confused. Others are clear and bright, But I alone am dim and weak. Others are sharp and clever, But I alone am dull and stupid. Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea, Without direction, like the restless wind. Everyone else is busy, But I alone am aimless and depressed. I am different. I am nourished by the great mother.

Big day today. My kid started in first grad at the Waldorf School. We´ve chosen this private school due to the fact that they focus on the whole individual and not just forcing info down kids throats. They even try to let kids evolve in their own individual pace. Allthough fine and dandy, there are some eerie aspects of the Steiner/Waldorf universe as well. What we do experience going there, is a "vibe" that I must say borders on a sense of energetic transmission. Is it the "Eurythmics" of the place, the intention of the teachers, or the actual philosopphy of Rudolf Steiner himself, bordering on the occult.? And most importantly, what might one do to counter it´s eventual negative aspects? h

Thank you guys Important feedback. This confirms what we have read and heard about the Waldorf pedagogy around the world. There seem to be three basic issues that everyone that is critical run into: 1. Secterianism, occultism and elitism permeates the environment and social structure to a larger or lesser degere. Its Us and the corrupted world. 2. Old fashion and outdated norms for keeping discipline, and learning. Stuff like if you are bullied, it´s your karma. 3. Lack of transparency and ability to receive and communicate around criticism and conflicts. What we did feel was a tangible energetic "vibe" too. Almost as if you go into this you are going to evoke stuff that is not necessarily nice and ordered, and even malicious. Any thoughts?

Interesting post. From what I understand from what you describe, the heat you experienced was a form of post-natal heat, or "lesser yang". Keep in mind there is nothing "lesser" in it, only that there are several different and deepening layers of experiential heat from coupling energies in the LDT. But I am by no means an expert. What my own experience has taught me is that there are "manifest" and "unmanifest" energetic components to Nei Dan. Some or maybe most qigong forms focus on the LDT. the heat experiences from gathering the chi in the LDT is not the same as the spark or bright light/fire that is experiences from getting the transmission from a teacher. I don't want to get into the discussion about teachers or transmissions. My point is that the heat I experienced was by far more subtle yet "brighter" when recieving the transmission into the LDT. What you describe is the sort of heat that is felt when you gather chi in the LDT. h

He said so after a session where we meditated on the LDT, and I sat with my eyes closed. After a while I felt a bright hot sensation in my belly. I opened my eyes and saw my teacher hold a talisman in his hand. He turned it back and forth,and as he did, the sensation came and went in my belly. He spoke little about it, yet I deduce that the actual "heat" was transmitted, not created. h

Chipping in a little late: I would vouch for what K says; The heat that is created is just a symptom, and should not be forced. only necessary ingredient; resonance and alignment. h

Last couple of years I have had some strange and overwhelming experiences with quartz crystals, and I wonder if anyone here has any input or similar experiences? It seems like the sensitivity and reactions are increasing over time. Amethyst is by far the most potent one for me. Yesterday I went with my son to the geological museum, and encountered a huge one. I felt this deep pulse in my Ni Wan cavity, and felt I could almost lean into it. like a beam. It also feels very nourishing, for the mind I presume, or supports the Shen. Thougts?

Please elaborate =)

With respect, I must add that very little, if any of the so called "feats" of masters living or dead have any hold in reality. Most is folklore, or mixed with degrees of fairytales and legends. Most feats of living masters have no substantial effect outside the subjective realm. I've seen the use of magical talismans, incantations, vizualisations and healings. Even the healings are a matter of exchange but also dialogue, not of magic or powers. The stuff that John Chang does takes enormous amount of time, and what do you get in the end? h

I cannot recall where, but there is mentioned in certain Daoist lineages that out there in the Cosmos, there is an actual star that corresponds to the essence in each and every human on this earth. Makes sense, since there are quite a few stars out there. I've done some practice with stars and starlight before, and I find this a very profound aspect of Daoist practices. And in these times, to have your own star is...reassuring in some strange way. Anyone have any knowledge about this? h

The outer and inner, yes I know. But as far as the Daoists embraced form and not only emptiness, stars are as esoteric as you can get no? h

On a retreat or in a book somewhere, I came across a practice of tuning in to your own star. It is a notion within some early Daoist sects that stars contain the essential spark of pure Yang Shen. I've done meditations on stars or the starlit sky, and tuning into how all the stars were affecting the cavities and acu points, filling them with cosmic chi. But the notion of there being a star that corresponds to each living soul, that I find compelling and very poetic. h

What a ride. And this is something that came out of a heart-related practice, or just out of the blue? h

Very interesting. I'd love to know what you experienced in the Elysian fields though... Or at least what they are? h