altiora

I prefer to refer to TCM as Maoist medicine. Understand that much the same dumbing down aka standardisation has occured in Ayurveda in India (with the BAMS degree). It seems that both TCM and mainstream Ayurveda have omitted the deeper spiritual aspects of their traditions, in particular the notion that illness and disease should be seen as windows of opportunity for patients to look at their lives more thoroughly and make adjustments accordingly. Now this would be fine if TCM and BAMS were open about their limitations so that their students could know what and how they needed to study and cultivate further. But they don't. Consequently, for example, it is far too common to find cupuncturists who think that meridian points are consistently placed on every person's body, and who don't understand that they would be far more effective if they cultivated and projected qi when inserting the needles. While we're talking about Portland, one of my earlier teachers is to be found there: Master Liu He of the Ling Gui School. She and her brother are descended from a family of traditional barefoot doctors. Master Liu a simply delightful lady, very wise and compassionate, and no pretence. She is well worth getting to know.

It is an unfortunate trend on TDB that threads by one person asking a question about Taoism are highjacked by others to discuss some irrelevant rubbish (in this case about spirulina) and their own alleged achievements. Sadly it seems to be an increasing trend on TDB, primarily by those who are relatively new members. Start you own thread if you wish to talk about yourself or other matters.

Returning to this topic after the spirulina disputation, a past teacher of mine John Dolic (Sydney, Australia) teaches sleeping qigong: http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/sleeping_qigong I have attempted to learn this but it requires a highly developed sense of visualisation abilities, something I do not currently possess. John also teaches relaxation qigong (indeed has a downloadable MP3 for purchase) which is more akin to the Yoga Nidra, given it is more kinesiologically focused than sleeping qigong: http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/relaxation_qigong There are instructions on a similar form in Chinese Medical Qigong edited Tianjun Liu. I also notice that Hua Ching Ni provides very basic instruction on sleeping qigong of the immortal Chen Tuan in Life & Teachings of Two Immortals, Volume 2.

Friend of mine who attended the workshops, but who is not a TaoBum, wrote this nice review for the workshop. Might be of interest to the TaoBums who wanted more information on what was covered during the workshop. ********** I'd been hearing about Michael Lomax and qigong for a few years from a friend, and I finally decided to attend a workshop in person in December 2014 in Springfield, Missouri. I did have some exposure to Gift of the Tao, but prior to attending the workshop in person it was only a series of moves to me. I only understood them at the surface level. At the workshop this completely changed. From the minute Michael walked into the room on the first day I felt a sense calm and relaxation - as if everything buzzing and nagging me in my head suddenly stopped and I was left with quiet. I felt Michael's energetic presence immediately. Coming from a major city filled with lots of noise and a faster pace of life this was huge for me! The pace of the workshop was perfect. Each move from Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 were taught and refined, with other long-time workshop attendees offering helpful tips and queues along the way. I learned a lot from just watching others perform the movements, and I felt that this helped my practice quite a bit. All questions were addressed without judgement. Gift of the Tao 3 was also taught, though it seems like it's still a work in progress so I'm eager to attend another workshop to see how it's morphed as I did enjoy its movements. The seated and standing stillness movement portions of the workshop were pretty much mind-blowing. I don't know how else to describe it with words. I was concerned at first that sitting on the floor for an entire hour would be a challenge, but before I knew it an hour was over and I felt like it had hardly began. I saw a few visions of birds as well which was a pleasant surprise, and my entire body felt very light and floaty and, well, high. I loved hearing the chanting as well as Michael projected qi at me and the class during the meditations. I could go on and on with how amazing this was. The entire weekend I was immensely touched at the kindness, compassion, and sincerity of the attendees at this workshop. I felt like I was finally surrounded by people that were as sensitive to energy as I am, and this is still so powerful to me that I'm actually getting a bit teary thinking about it. My entire life I have always felt like an outsider because I am so sensitive to people and energy, so this is pretty much a revelation for me. I found this particularly so on the third day of the workshop where we learned qi projection and taoist medicine. I felt at first like I wouldn't be able to do either, and was seriously doubting my newly acquired abilities to project qi. With the encouragement of others at the workshop I successfully projected qi for the first time and had 100% healing results, much to my surprise and amazement. After the workshop I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up my practice at the level that I learned from Michael, but I'm happy to say that this is not the case. The sense of physical relaxation and calmness has continued to stay with me, and this has encouraged me to keep up my practice. Who knows what amazing things await... I would highly encourage anyone who is considering attending one of these workshop to sign up immediately - I can't wait for the next one!

I thought I'd provide a review of the Stillness Movement Nei Gong workshop and the clinical application workshop, which I attended in Springfield, Missouri in December 2014. Both workshops were led by Michael Lomax (Ya Mu) with the assistance of his senior students. This is a personal review of those workshops. I encourage other attendees on Tao Bums to post their own personal reflections on the workshops. This was the first workshops with Michael; I travelled from Perth in Western Australia to attend it. My past experience with Michael had been seeing and sensing his qi projection in a video clip: http://qigongamerica.blogspot.com.au/ This prompted me to order his Gift of the Tao qigong DVDs, which I used to teach myself the movements. The DVDs and the video clip whetted my appetite to explore the Gift of the Tao system first-hand from Michael. There were over 20 attendees at the workshops. I wasn't the only international student there -- two attendees travelled from the UK and Brazil. The other attendees came from all over the USA. My first -- and lasting -- impression of the workshops was of the enthusiasm and friendliness of the teacher and students. I've been to numerous meditation and qigong workshops, but have never encountered such a welcoming community of people. I found myself quickly connecting with several of my fellow attendees, sharing stories of our spiritual journeys and the power of qigong, and sharing insight into how to perform the movements. The community spirit was fostered by a workshop dinner. After travelling such a distance and being so far from home, the community spirit meant a great deal to me. Michael was a very personable teacher. I was hugely impressed by him greeting each of the attendees individually at the start of the workshop. There was no Guru-complex going on. This impression was reinforced by Michael getting his senior students to lead the workshop teaching of the three Gift of the Tao movement sets. Michael created a qi-field during the workshops, and this was responsible for the many breakthroughs that I and other attendees experienced. During the workshop, we practised the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2. We also learnt the Gift of the Tao 3, a set of movements that has been revealed to Michael more recently. The power of all three movement systems has to be experienced to be believed -- they induce strong qi sensations within, alter the environmental qi and hugely elevate your awareness. Having practised a handful of qigong systems over 18 years, the Gift of the Tao system has induced in me the most profound experiences of any system I have tried. The teaching at the workshop was of a very high level. The senior students brought their own insights into how to perform the movements, and we had ample opportunity to practise each movement and to ask questions and seek clarification from the teachers. During the workshop, I was rather dizzy with the amount of information being imparted, but found that my understanding of the energetics of each movement enhanced incredibly. On my return home, I learnt the Gift of the Tao 1 and 2 movements thoroughly in three days flat. Nothing taught at the workshops went to waste it seems Perhaps the highlight of the workshops for me was the "lighting the fire". This involved Michael projecting qi so as to unlock the attendees' ability to undertake high level qigong. As a result of Michael's qi projection, I experienced much spontaneous body movement and had several visions, such as seeing the heavens and earth open up. I also attended the optional clinical application workshop. This workshop involved Michael and senior students teaching qi healing techniques. All attendees were then able to practise the techniques on each other to heal various ailments. The techniques are very simple yet profound. As a result of practising the Gift of the Tao movements and Stillness Movement, you quickly develop the ability to amass and manipulate qi. Pretty much all attendees were able to achieve an 80 - 100% healing rate. The potential implications for our healthcare system of these techniques is mind blowing. In closing, I am so glad that I attended the workshops. After arriving in Springfield on a wet cold winter's day and fatigued and bothered after much flying, I had nagging doubts about the wisdom of attending the workshop. Repeatedly I asked myself "what the hell am I doing here! Why am I spending this time and money coming all this way when I'm unemployed and should be looking for a job!" I am glad to say that these nagging doubts quickly left me -- the workshops were profound and life enhancing for me. So there is no doubt in my mind that if you have the chance, do attend one of Michael's workshops.

Indeed it is the same sage-warrior. These are part of the 18 postures:

Would dearly like some help finding a good book or two on Yueh Fei's 18 Continuous Postures. Have searched high and low yet can't for the life of me locate any books discussing the theory and practise of these movements. Peculiar given they are foundational. I am wanting the technical information to refine my practise. There are youtube clips but none has the information level I am looking for. Can anyone tell me the titles of books that discuss the postures?

Yes I would think it good to have clarification as to what he means by having "Jesus in his heart". That other thread (which I dare not mention its name on this thread lest my post be "relocated") suffers from the fatal flaw that no one really knows what JAJ means, and some assume he takes some orthodox Christian approach -- which may or may not be the case. A related question would be to ask what does he see as the ultimate goal of Nei Gong and the other practises contained in his books. Are they to allow us to negotiate this world better, to attain liberation, better health or all of the above and more. I think this question would throw more light on his view on Jesus in the context of Daoist alchemy. I would think an orthodox Christian would deny that Daoist alchemical practices can lead to the "Final Goal". Finally, after almost a year of dithering, purchased JAJ's Alchemy book. Has been good timing; I've been practicing a form of spontaneous qigong I was taught some months ago (not "Kunlun" I might add), and the results have been incredible in developing qi and enhancing circulation. I now keen to start utilising this acquired qi for Shen Gong. I would like to use the book for systematic practice. Does anyone have tips on how one can do this? Guess I could just start at the first practice in the book and work myself forward over the months. But I wondered if people found that some practises in the book were easier and/or more obviously beneficial, and would therefore be good places to start?

Your sentiment is perfectly correct. But as someone who was watching this from the sidelines, and hasn't commented until now, one is entirely cynical about FH saying "you go your way and I go mine" FH's approach has not been "hey we have different approaches, all is cool". Rather it has been Dr JAJ's approach is not a true path acccording to what the immortals whom I talk to have told me, and you have to take as correct that I do in fact talk to immortals. It has been a depressing feature of TaoBums that extremely doctrinaire people come on, denigrate others, claim that they alone have "true teachings" and then, when challenged, claim that their challengers are being intolerant and closed minded. ZYD is perfectly entitled to challenge the denigration campaign undertaken by FH, and people who come on to TB should be expected to put up evidence and reasoning that can be assessed by others.

Well worth visiting the following: http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/fragrant_qigong Possibly the most information on this form out there; and there are DVDs avaiable of the different levels. It's very simple and many people disparage because of this; I practiced it for a short time and observed that it works; don't practice now simply because I found another form that better suited me.

Have very much the same experience with Rin myself. I use it to kick start my meditation practice -- in particular, it allows me to build up the energy and send it up my sushumna to my Crown. I find holding Rin while silently chanting AUM does the trick for this: beginning with the A at the base of my spine whilst ending with the M in my head. Once I've done that I move straight into the Zen mudra, so as to use the roused energy to develop my Crown Chakra. Have you tried the different variations of the Zen mudra? I found one variation is far more overt in its effect than the others. I sometimes just love to sit quietly while holding the zen mudra during spontaneous meditation during the day. I get other effects using the other mudras, but don't really bother with them much now. That reflects that the Indian school I belong to tells us to spend our time sending our energy to the Crown chakra. I am not surprised that you've found the Ajna chakra the strongest; this is possibly because it is where the sushumna and the ida and pingala nadis meet.

Muktananda Swami said a very different thing: treat semen as you would $100; you don't go throwing $100 away left right and centre. Unrestrained ejaculation leads to loss of ojas, and thereafter lost of health. Hua Ching Ni took an even harder line: he said that if you let your fluids turn to semen in the first place, through sexual arousal, then the energy is lost. Now I've studied this issue further, I think Hua Ching Ni is correct; he was emphasising the importance of (as one poster has already described as "mental celibacy") Brahmacharya. From my experience, your efforts at semen retention are doomed, and may lead to unhealthy events, if you don't discipline your mind so that it no longer craves sexual pleasure. A very hard task in an age where celibacy is treated as a sign of inadequacy rather than strength. But well worth the effort in order to achieve greater liberty.

What I find most objectionable about the Vedic fundamentalists/supermacists is that there is an implicit racist overtone, ie that only Vedic people and no other people were sufficiently advanced to create such things as acupuncture, language, martial arts, spirituality and other great things. It is not wonder that the Nazis seized on this thinking to advance their agenda.

I agree. This is another instance of what I describe as Vedic fundamentalism, the proponents of which claim that India is the source of all and everything great.

This is a stab in the dark: does anyone have a copy of Master Zi, Sheng Wang's "One Finger Zen: Still Form" book that they could lend or sell to me? I have the Dynamic form practice book, but desperately want to get hold of the Still form book (which has since gone out of print). And yes, I have checked amazon, abebooks, biblio etc.