Gerard

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Everything posted by Gerard

  1. Vipassana meditation

    No, I don't. There are many meditation techniques. They are all valid. You need to find and stick to the one that works FOR YOU.
  2. Vipassana meditation

    Watch this video and you'll know the depth of what is really going on: Try this guide: http://kusala.online-dhamma.net/文字資料/南傳佛教圖書館 Theravada Buddhism E-Library/078 資訊 Information/Pa Auk Monastery/Introduction of Pa Auk Meditation Centre.pdf Probably needs an update but the monasteries are still there. Good luck
  3. 2024 - Year of the Green Dragon

    This Dragon, one of the 12 Elemental energies, is one to watch for in spring. Just saw it rising up to the sky in my Liver channel the other day during meditation practice. Let's appease the dragon with some robust raw puerh harvested from old trees. Pasha Mt 2015 should do the job. Hot water, some leaves a small white gaiwab and let the magic happen.
  4. Well, another animal about to go and a totally different one is arriving on February 10. Every year around the 4th of February when the annual Feng Shui energy is changing; the bells of the New Chinese Year are not far away. Not only do the annual 9 Flying Star change, but also the three gods (cosmic energy constellations) move to different compass directions influencing our lives. I'll write a full report soon with some predictions.
  5. Stranger things

    In this case, we can apply the following principle put down by Rousseau: "There are always four sides to a story: your side, their side, the truth and what really happened."
  6. Enlightened movies

    Here's a list: (My favourite movie ever! Especially the rooftop scene) 2001: A Space Odyssey Wings of Desire Jeremiah Johnson
  7. Leaving a Religion disrupts Qi?

    Obstacles will pop up your entire life! Even Buddhist arahants claimed that the battle with the Mind is constant, on a daily basis until you are all free from any delusions and attachments of all sorts. Battle against lust, attachment to a physical form as the ultimate factors and then the whole lot: anger, resentment, fear, ego, restlessness, etc., etc. Then you as a beginner have to restablish balance of the internal organs (yin-yang & fine tune the five forces) and open up meridians and all joints. This is a very slow process. So, go easy, go slow and enjoy the ride plus the ripes of your own effort. There is also a lot of joy once you realise the full transformation you'll experience while looking back at your former 'self'', the old you.
  8. Leaving a Religion disrupts Qi?

    That means you got a LONG JOURNEY ahead of you. Enjoy the blood, sweat and tears. As Mr Miyagi said in "The Karate Kid:" wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off...
  9. For fighting, I'd personally choose Muay Thai over anything else. 1. Very effective 2. No frills 3. It's the foundation of MMA
  10. Leaving a Religion disrupts Qi?

    I have the experience to say that healing the internal organs is a very slow process as you aren't really healing matter but your own energetic make up: -Water (the source of fear and panic) -Wood -Fire -Earth -Metal How long have you been practising for and at what age did you start?
  11. What follows is a good case. The granitic outcrop known as "Peña Sirio" is located in La Pedriza nature reserve (Spain). The name to this cliff was given in the early XX century by some locals who noticed that the star Sirius was coming out behind this cliff during the night hours. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word Σείριος (Latin script: Seirios), meaning lit. 'glowing' or 'scorching.' Incidentally this area is scorching hot in the summer months. Sirius is colloquially known as the "Dog Star", reflecting its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major (the Greater Dog). The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nilein Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks, while to the Polynesians, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigationaround the Pacific Ocean. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius Doesn't Peña Sirio have an uncanny resemblance to a dog?
  12. Taiji Quan for Self Defense

    Indeed poor WC, but legit stuff is out there: Based in Canada.
  13. Formula for what?

    The formula is very simple:
  14. Taiji Quan for Self Defense

    You want to learn an effective MA? Let me vouch for Muay Thai: Grab a punching bag, a pair of gloves and let's get started. You'll need sparring too as a means of using the art for practical purposes. Leave the wonderful Chinese internal arts for inner cultivation, fitness and health reasons. Combining an external with an internal art can be very tricky.
  15. Taiji Quan for Self Defense

    It isn't worth it. Even a supposed Ba Gua fighter has a chance against a MMA fighter as shown in this video: The MMA guy was gentle IMO. Imagine a Chen stylist. He probably would have been KO instantly. And any of those guys against a formidable opponent like Mike Tyson would have been severely injured with a high chance of dying on the ring.
  16. Taiji Quan for Self Defense

    IMO dead completely as such. According to the historical writings, after retiring from his military post to his native village-- the Chen village of Henan province-- Gen. Wangting Chen (陈王廷1597-1664) integrated the principles of martial arts and his own battlefield experiences with the Yin & Yang and Five Elements theories. This created the first modern form of Taijiquan– the Chen style Taijiquan (陈式太极拳). Since its emphasis originally was on martial applications, the movements in the first Chen style Taijiquan are alternatively slow, quick and explosive motions. Every move is performed with reference to battle. Source: https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/social-cultural-and-justice-studies/anthropology/wheelchair-tai-chi-chuan-program/story I'd love to see anyone today practicing the way they did back then.
  17. Stranger things

    You can't drive a car without a seatbelt on but you can jump out of an airplane without a parachute!
  18. Help with Zi Fa Gong

    The first video shows a hip opening exercise. it's very good. You keep switching from leg to leg by twisting the torso and keep going in a zig-zag fashion for as long as you can endure. https://baguaquanlessons.com/2021/02/27/20210227-the-hip-opening-exercise-correction-and-general-lessons/
  19. Help with Zi Fa Gong

    No but he is the guy I learnt many of his very useful grounding exercises. Your problem is excessive Wood movement which is blocking the normal flow of the Liver & Gallbladder meridians: 1. Chair sitting 2. Not enough daily movement, eg. regular walking 3. Excessive mental activity 4. Computer work and/or study if applicable in your case 5. Likewise sexual activity which will worsen the condition if born in a fire or earth year and being born under Horse or Goat sign; eg born in 1966 to 1969, 1976 to 1979, etc. You need to be patient and persistent and able to cope with the releasing power of circle walking. A lot you'll release and it's painful and hard work. Ability to endure pain and hard work is a MUST in order to succeed.
  20. Help with Zi Fa Gong

    You can't expect serious results as a beginner. Blocked like most people. It's normal. Answered above. Surgery won't do anything. The meridian and joint opening ability of BGZ + foundation work is unmatched. It takes years of daily practice not 1.5 Focus on dantien? Hocus pocus kind of practice. Move on. Supplement your practice with the ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF GROUNDING you ought to do from now on. Here's today's foremost authority on grounding and foundation work: https://m.youtube.com/@HeJingHan-Baguaquan-Taijiquan/videos Try go back as early as you can because he has been posting vids since 2005. Also to be practiced daily throughout the day: https://youtu.be/ASlrYhcCySg https://youtube.com/shorts/gZEAT-kwGNY?si=2pNqR5Kkg6q2IJ9i Use kettlebells and/or pole assisted squat to help you getting started if your body-mind is stiff, which is naturally the case due to modern lifestyle. In the narrow stance squat, go down ver slowly and stet in the squat position as long as you comfortably can.
  21. This topic ties in really well with the following: 1. How deep does the mind go? 2. Where is the exact location of the mind? Things, events, laws, principles, etc. start to make a lot of sense once one gets a good understanding of the above.
  22. Finding my spiritual Path

    Let me tell you something from personal experience. As a Ba Gua circle walking practitioner this art will "open you up completely" if you are up to the task. There is virtually no end how deep it goes. We are...and I stop here, I'll let you find it out by yourself. So to answer your question: it's a must if you are ready for it. No one else knows this better than you. Whst are we really?
  23. Any religion spread by force got nothing to offer

    They were not Taoist intellectuals who were in charge of writing texts about their findings plus compiling old texts on the matter; eg. Wu Xing theory; let alone alchemists experimenting with substances that causes many a premature death but thanks to them we have a vast and rich Classical Chinese Medicine system. Herbal Medicine would be nothing today without their experiments and results; cinnabar in small doses clears the heart and calms the mind...earlier on some Taoists died while trying to figure out the correct dose.
  24. Any religion spread by force got nothing to offer

    1.Yes true but it doesn't have the widespread appeal and push as Buddhism, Hinduism and the Middle Eastern religions except for the Sufi way. 2. It has a lot IMO: Medicine, Feng Shui/Divination, Astrology and Physiognomy.
  25. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaddanta_Āciṇṇa He's the monastery's abbot and learnt Mahasi's method.