Creation

If you are seriously interested in following a path all the way to light body, there is really no getting around long retreats and hard work doing practices that don't seem glamorous to you. For instance, there are Tibetan Lamas (Westerners for that matter) who teach basic Dzogchen-inspired meditations designed for Westerners, but you will never get rainbow body that way - for that there is no getting around an isolated retreat where you do ngondro, creation, completion, rushan, and treckchod in that order all day every day for a long time before getting to thogal. And that's just to get to thogal, after that you would have to do more retreats, and support for such retreats in the West is limited, so really going to Asia shouldn't be ruled out. But there are real Lamas with online programs that could serve as an entry point. As for Daoism, if you've read White Moon you know the higher levels of Daoism are no different. I've never read any Mo Pai books, but they would have to be much better than their reputation leads me to believe they are to still seem interesting after reading Damo's books. But then again Damo doesn't advertise himself as someone who can teach you to light things on fire with qi... I guess it's a question of, of all the powers or phenomena you could chase, are you really interested in spiritual cultivation, which is to let go of the self, above all?

Hi Bindi, Don't know if you've come across this but I thought you might be interested:

I wouldn't come down quite as hard on VF as virtue, and I think VF's line of inquiry is legitimate, BUT this last bit "then really what else is he considering" could be construed as an implication of wrongdoing, that he isn't really considering what he ought to to be saying what he says, that the things he does consider are not the right things or are illegitimate somehow. This is quite unfair to someone with Eric's level of talent and experience - no one should expect him to be omniscient. I'll also say that I once became very upset when a talented clairvoyant I worked with seemed to be missing important details when I had known them to be so accurate that I forgot they weren't infallible.

That sounds really frustrating oglights. I was also really taken by Frantzis' material when I first found it, and wanted to use it to heal anxiety and depression and was inspired by Jane Alexander's story. Now years later I have my likes and dislikes about it. Jane studied with Bruce in person, including all the various components of his system that aren't in books. Having learned some of these from his online programs, I would say they are absolutely necessary. Honestly, I never liked the "dissolving meditation" the way Frantzis teaches it. Very rigid, kind of mental even, and giving the impression that any upward movement is something to be avoided. But if practiced along with the basic movement sets (Energy Gates, Heaven and Earth, Dragon and Tiger) with their internal components, as well as the Daoist Breathing work, it really works for some people. But you have to have a feeling for qi movement - if you are as blocked as you say (and I was too), there is just no juice for to get the process going. Now I primarily learn from Damo Mitchell. There are some similarities (he might not like me saying that lol) - his sung breathing practice has similarities to outer dissolving, and his anchoring the breath practice has similarities to Frantzis' Daoist internal breathing practice. But there are a lot more components that crank up the power, and Damo will tell you don't expect this stuff to fix all your issues (no overselling). Good luck, whatever direction you choose to go. Did you ever do any kind of physically intense practice, like a vigorous hatha yoga practice? What about "non doing" types of meditations like following the breath?

For long periods of standing, turning the feet in and turning the feet out create specific energetic effects, for "wuji" - neutral, they should be forward. Nothing should be forced, or the tension could go up into you knees, so if your feet tend to go out, there needs to be a lengthening/relaxing of the muscles responsible for that action (back and sides of hips), and possibly more engagement of the muscles on the inside of the thighs and pelvis. This can be trained through stretching, then it can be put into your standing safely.

Hi mYogi, nice to meet someone with dedication, sincerity and experience, and a willingness to keep learning. I was much like your friend years ago, focused on Daoist practices and thinking "sink the chest" meant "collapse the chest", believed yoga was too forceful and yang for me. Well, I realized my Daoist practices were exacerbating my depression, and I met a yoga teacher that impressed me, so I took up yoga in great earnest. I became, but most standards, quite proficient at yogasana and intense pranayama methods. Until I realized something was wrong, somehow the insides of my body weren't moving like they were supposed to even though the outside looked correct due to hypermobile joints, and it would be ill advised to continue. Not to long later became aware of a Daoist teacher that taught differently than I had seen in the past - he emphasized that the proper way to practice was to distinguish between relaxing and collapsing, and learn to relax the muscles while engaging the web of connective tissue throughout the whole body, which makes standing practice feel anything but relaxing! I knew that this is what I had been missing - in yogasana and breathing methods as well as my prior Daoist practice I had a complete lack of connective tissue integrity, and I very much thought relax meant collapse. Here is this teacher explaining these things, perhaps you and/or your friend would be interested: Honestly, good teachings on the internals of Tai Chi and qigong are very hard to find.

Yeah that's the one.

Yes, because of habit. To retrain this requires retraining body, breath, and mind - letting go of the tension that squeezes energy up to the head, training the breath to be anchored in the belly even when you aren't thinking about it, and letting go of unnecessary thinking and residing in the body and senses unless conceptual thinking is specifically called for. freeform mentioned Damo Mitchell's material, which starts out with learning to do just those things. Here is a taste of it, to see how you respond to his person and his material. https://damomitchell.com/2020/06/09/anchoring-the-breath/ I recommend this meditation to literally everyone who expresses interest in meditation or energy work to me. It's that good.

From what you've said, you sound like a water type person according to Chinese five element personality typing. Are you familiar with the five phases/five elements in Chinese thought? It's by far the most practical model in Daoism. Water's natural wisdom is to flow like you describe - it is a great blessing that you have had such success flowing without willfulness like this! Water's tendency under stress is to become fearful and compensate with willfulness. Our society doesn't have models of actualized water in the same way as it does other elements, like wood is the stereotypical "dominant alpha", earth is the stereotypical "helper". What about water? Maybe a scientist or philosopher, something obscure and cut off from the rest of society. So I want to suggest some self reflection may be in order - are you feeling the way you are feeling because you are comparing yourself to others who are "successful" and becoming fearful of being inadequate, and wanting to have more "will" to be like said other people? Because this is a big trap for a water type person. Your wish to reach your highest potential is admirable. For me, the perspective of the five elements suggests reflecting on if one of your elements is deficient. For instance, water naturally gives birth to wood, which is an expansive energy of growth and action. This energy may what you are really wanting when you say you need more will. Fire relates to what you are ignites your passion and joy, which others have suggested may be relevant. Also potentially relevant is metal, which relates to what you deeply value and would be disciplined, courageous, and/or austere to preserve or attain.

There is the perspective of one school debating another school to maintain their self-image of superiority, and the perspective of an individual seeker doing what they feel drawn to, regardless of who wins the debates. Does this Hindu-turned-Buddhist talk about how he has benefited from Buddhism in a way that he didn't get from Hinduism, from direct experience, not dogmas? Does this tug at you, like, "That really does sound interesting, like something I also feel I am lacking." Or not, for instance, "That's nice he has found something that he resonates with so much, but it has no appeal to me." My preference is make decisions that way, not by conceptual arguments about who is "best". Actually, from that place, you can hear the conceptual debates and know which you are more interested in. By the way, is the yogi you mention Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche?

I've only started seriously looking into Tajijiquan recently, I don't know anything about "the original principles of Taijiquan", but watching a high level Chen person fajin vs. a high level Yang style person fajin, it doesn't even look like the same thing at all. I wish I had saved the link to the video of the Chen guy I saw, it was a senior student of Feng Zhiqiang being tested at some movement lab in California, so I could post a side by side comparison to, say, Adam Mizner or one of his senior students. The idea that the Yang family learned Chen style and then took the fast and hard parts out doesn't seem to be what really happened.

There are several distinctions that can be made that get subsumed into "water and fire methods", this is why this category is an oversimplification. 1. Methods that use visualization, extreme postures, and deliberate breath retention vs. those that don't 2. Methods that start at the jing/lower dantian level and work up vs. methods such as Tibetan Buddhism and Kunlun that start at the shen and/or upper dantian level and work down 3. Among alchemical methods specifically, those that emphasize creating extreme heat and pressure in the lower dantian and moving it through the channels that are known to be potentially very dangerous, vs. those that have little or no emphasis on potentially dangerous heat and pressure in the LDT. BKF talks about 1 and 3, and gives the impression that they always go together, which is not at all the case. Kunlun Max seems to be the one that applied the fire and water terminology to 2. A path can be any combination of these three. For instance, in Tibetan Buddhism, as I mentioned considered as a whole it is very top down, yet some branches use a lot of visualization and others don't, and some emphasize, at a certain stage, creating very powerful heat and pressure in the lower abdomen and then moving it around, whereas other branches don't do this so much. That said, just to be contrary even though I don't pay any attention to the fire and water method stuff anymore, I really like some of BKFs qigong sets and recommend them sometimes as an entry point to the internal arts.

Madhayama compiles the philosophical position (the "view") of the PP sutras, it is a philosophical school not a practice lineage. That the Bodhisattva path consists of the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom, the fruition of which are the form body (nirmanakaya + sambhogakaya) of a Buddha and the dharma body of a Buddha, respectively, is in the PP sutras, but as that's not strictly about view it's not the part that was consolidated into Madhyamaka. My point was that even in Buddhism you have the idea that part of the goal of the path is a type of perfected body which is cultivated by the accumulation of the causes of such a body. Sorry if I wasn't more clear. The stuff about the bhumis and producing the dharmakaya are side points.

Not going trying to draw parallels between different traditions, but this isn't quite right. The truth of emptiness is realized at 1st Bhumi, there are 9 more after that! In classical Mahayana, the Bodhisattva continues to accumulate merit, which eventually produces the rupakaya of a Buddha, and wisdom, which produces the dharmakaya of a Buddha. What does it mean to accumulate wisdom even after realizing emptiness? And how can one "produce" the dharmakaya? Couldn't tell you, but that's what the sutras say.

I hear you. Two points: 1. You might find that in the next few lessons, the practices get advanced really fast. Not in the sense of complicated or technical, but in the sense of, they are easy to explain but not easy to master. The issue has come up on the facebook group multiple times, "There is no way I can really get this in one week." 2. You really don't need to get 1-2 years in to get the most important practices - actually the core practices are the ones in the first two months. Those practices take time to master, and already to do them all every day is impractical if you have much of a life, you will be doing the less important ones maybe every other day. So if you don't want to continue the subscription model, my advice is subscribe for two months, learn the Nei Gong, Taijiquan, Foundations of Qigong, and Heavenly Streams material (watch all videos twice, take notes), and then watch the free MCO program, and that will be plenty for years of practice. PS I promise the first two months of material in the Taijiquan program is worth learning.

If that is how you are seeing things, consider that you are missing something. The lecture on how listening (ting) to the body while doing the mobility work causes the connective tissue to engage might seem pedestrian, but it was a total game changer for me after years of physical practice with body awareness being done from up in the head. I now apply this principle to all my physical training and it makes a huge difference. The practice of quiet sitting probably sounds like it doesn't do anything, but consider if you can't do it that will hinder your progress later. You can also start the Taiji Module - even if you are not interested in martial arts I would recommend the first month or two because the exercises are incredible for learning how to sung properly - neigong training focuses more on ting and Taiji training more on sung, so they synergize with each other. If that still doesn't seem like enough material you can get a head start on neigong standing by watching the Foundations of Qigong program, or if you want a head start on working with the 5 elements and the channels you can start the Heavenly Streams program. You get out what you put in.

May I share this on a small group for people focused on awakening via inquiry that I participate in?

In the Dzogchen teachings I have been exposed to, it is emphasized that being completely open and allowing everything to be without clear experience of rigpa can turn into a dullness which is actually the opposite of rigpa. And that one way to turn an experience of stillness into an experience of rigpa is by using questions, such as, "Who is experiencing this stillness?" Also, "Where is the mind located?" Is this distinction emphasized in your lineage? How about the method of questioning as a way to induce rigpa?

Someone I trust recently mentioned Healing With Whole Foods is OK but contains errors and biases, and recommended the red edition of Henry Lu’s "Chinese Natural Cures" instead.

Yeah, do start slow if you try it. I had similar issues with mind body disconnect and connective tissue disengagement that weren't as pronounced, and when I bounced on a trampoline intensely while trying to relax unnecessary tension I ended up with some joint pain.

The weekly Nei Gong module of the Internal Arts Academy is what you're looking for. The "Foundations of Qigong" Vimeo course only teaches the physical mechanics, no seated work or lower dantian work. Moreover, you get automatic access to it with an Internal Arts Academy subscription. Try the Academy for a month and see if it isn't the most valuable neigong instruction you've ever seen, for a very low price. I asked Damo where the MCO material fits into the larger process of the neigong he teaches. He replied that it corresponds to some of the material in the second year of the weekly neigong program.

My impression is that the Taiji module of Damo's academy goes at about the same pace as Mizner's in terms of how quickly new postures are taught. The difference is in the level of detail: Damo's teaching style is to share a lot of detail, much more than Mizner, which I personally appreciate for self-study. It can be a lot to process though. I agree about Mizner's global network being more accessible though, as far as I can tell I could more easily study with Mizner's school in person than Damo's, but this will vary person to person. Damo is being exceptionally generous to give access to multiple modules and a library of miscellaneous lectures with a single subscription. Be advised that you only get access to some of the miscellaneous lectures with a monthly subscription, for everything you need to be a yearly subscriber. For instance his wife's Nei Gong For Women course that was previously on Vimeo and his Yi Jing lectures are only available to yearly subscribers.

I remember you as a no-bullshit kind of bloke, so that's quite a recommendation. Why would you recommend Zen12 over other entrainment programs? I like the 12 minutes a day bit, rather than the 30-60 recommended by other programs, because I have a committed practice already which I have no intention of mixing with brainwave entrainment.

I'm astonished by your posts in this thread. What blackfence is describing is, to my mind, exactly what Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche was pointing to when he would say the nature of mind is like a mirror. Remember how Rinpoche would always say don't try to explain about direct introduction to certain sects that emphasize Madhyamaka dialectic because their logic negates it?

@silent thunderWonderful, thanks. I was advised to cut out sugar, lactose, and gluten. I'll look into phytochemicals, more smoothie ingredient variety, and cutting out the little alcohol I drink. Maybe this is a dense thing to ask, but what makes a food "processed"? For instance, I found a low sugar gluten free organic granola to eat for breakfast - would you consider that processed because it's prepackaged? What about an organic greens and plant based protein powder in smoothies in addition to whole food ingredients?