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.

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.

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!

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?

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

I've noticed this forum has numerous banner advertising, and out of curiosity I clicked on one advertising the "Shinka" meditation system. Has anyone tried this? I am naturally suspicious of any site claiming to make me meditate as deeply as meditation masters in 15 minutes -- even more so when they start bombarding my email box with "this is your last chance" offers and such carry on. I've never ever had any lasting luck with binaural beats (usually leave me with this funny noise in my head after), but am interested in meditation aids that help a mental worker to reduce the mind chatter.

I received the DVD last week. It's good. Just straight to the instructions; a simple clean production. Easy to follow as a result. Seeing Jenny in her spontaneous qigong was awe inspiring and humbling. So graceful, and clearly she knows how to surrender to the qi. What I particularly appreciated was her pointers on how to hold oneself -- both physically and mentally -- during the spontaneous practice. The other practices are done either before or after the spontaneous to prepare the body, open the channels and distribute the qi. It is always important to practice these sorts of exercise to maximise the benefits from the main practice.

I agree with the lack of accountability with many religious organisations. Assuming those clauses are correct (I'm not judging just that I know that Swami has a lot of enemies in India who would use foul deeds to bring him low), those clauses reinforce my point about people using their brains: if someone tried to get me to sign that, I'd smell a rat and call the Police or media. I've got to ask then, why people didn't do so. I stress this doesn't excuse criminal offending, not one bit. But it is case of caveat emptor here: let the buyer beware before they get involved with these outfits voluntarily. Of course, it would be different if it were a Fort Waco style compound, or children born into these outfits. The big question to me, and I think more fruitful to stopping this offending, is to ask just why do people, for instance, sign those clauses? Why don't we have fully autonomous people who can say "no, this is not acceptable"? I think that if people were to enquire into that meaningfully, they might uncover some uncomfortable truths about people and society. I think the real danger is simply saying "because X is a power crazed monster" is often too simplistic and convenient an explanation.

No problems. It was addressed to more than one person. Yes it's an highly emotive topic, and yes apologies my temper flared as well. My problem is that I have seen genuine abusers get away with it so long and repeat and repeat their crimes. It makes me frustrated that it would have only taken one of his or her victims to come forward and many other peoples' lives would have been spared the trauma and indignity. There is much difficulty and shame coming forward. We have come light years from where we were decades ago in recognizing that. And in no sense were I suggesting that it is the victim's fault. My problem now is that we're too much emphasising to adults that "it's OK if you wait a decade or more before you complain". We need to stress that it is peoples' responsibility to speak out to stop it happening again. The only way this sort of criminal activity can be stopped is if the victim's come forward ASAP when the evidence is still about. But so too, I am greatly concerned at the risk of false accusations and wrongful convictions, arising from the fact that the alleged events happened decades and decades ago.

Firs things foremost, unlike Shakimama and you, and that other person calling me for indulging in "spiritual Nazism", I have worked in the criminal law as an advocate, and am fully aware of sexual abuse. I don't need to cite wiki for that (and wouldn't because I'd be laughed out of court). So with all due respect, just be careful who you lecture to. The problem is that I also know, that sexual abuse allegations have been wrongly leveled against people, particularly during custody disputes to gain the children. The problem is that too many well meaning people think that just because someone says it's true. That's the issue I have here: how do we know what they say is true, when the person whom they accuse cannot respond? We can't. And I noticed that none of you bothered to answer my question about the presumption of innocence. There are other values and they need to be balanced. And that's what some of us do for a living. It's not acceptable to accuse and then convict, and then not bother about the evidence. You say:"If abuse is going on in any organisation, it needs to be routed out and stopped. Doesn't matter how valuable the teachings are." That's my point too. Again, I have seen this in my own work: people who have been victimised who do not speak up and thereby let crimes continue. I have continually stressed that one needs to understand that it is one's duty to stop it by calling the police. That was my final point. One final thing: please try to show some respect even if you disagree. Stating that someone is "showing contempt for sexual abuse victims" totally misrepresented the spirit of what I was saying. It is an accusation I regularly find labelled against people who ask for evidence before they adjudge another guilty. My impression is that you just don't want debate at all, and will do your best to shut it down by ad hominem and misrepresentation. But as I say, I stand by my point: the crimes ARE NOT excusable; but we as society need to start emphasising to adults that they must take care of their own well being and use their brains, and that if something criminal happens they "MUST" complain to the police -- as quickly as possible, not on some website after the alleged perpetrator has died. That's to ensure criminal activity is stopped, and it is also to ensure that the accused gets a fair hearing.

No I don't believe it for one. Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty? I think that brown, foreign, guys are entitled to it even when the alleged victims are white, American, women. There's also the point that one shouldn't defame the dead, since they cannot reply. Ask yourself: why didn't they lay complaints with the police when he was alive? Unfortunately, people just read these sites and believe them as gospel -- just because some people claim they've been sexually abused, then it must be so. Sadly, it shows the degraded level of our civilization, when there seem to be more people willing to believe that someone is a sexual predator only because it's on a website somewhere. I think you're correct: if someone has abused another person in this way, then they will suffer immediate degradation of their powers and realisation. It would seem to me that a person with the capacity to harm another human being, simply has not realised God. That doesn't mean they wouldn't have abilities that exceed ordinary human beings, but I think spiritually ripe people will know that a teacher has become degraded through abuse: that teacher will just be a ever shrinking cul de sac. I'm not one of those who believes that a person can be so evolved that it wouldn't matter if they murdered etc, they would retain the God realisation. That line of argument was used by a lot of Japanese Zen practitioners to excuse violence. The moral of the story (and one that several of us, including notably Dwai have in vain tried to communicate), there is nothing wrong with Gurus. What is wrong is people who do not test their so called Guru. people should wait wait years watching the Guru before they try to enter become their disciple. No genuine Guru will just accept some person who just wanders off the street and asks to be their disciple. They too will test the disciple to see if they're genuine. Sadly, there have been many criminals who have expropriated the "guru", "swami", "lama" and "master" label. They preyed/prey on the stupid, gullible and naiive. That is wrong. They have severely tarnished the prestige attaching to those labels. I truly believe that they will suffer in this life and after death for their crimes. But so too, I must admit I don't have much sympathy for many of their victims. Too often I read their stores -- and some of them are very sad -- and conclude that they were downright stupid. That doesn't excuse the crimes, but you do have to wonder what if these people used the brain God gave them, then perhaps they wouldn't have been victimised. After all, they voluntarily came to this relationship with this so called Guru. I have a Guru, to whom I prostrate myself at His lotus feet; but if he ever did anything criminal against me, I'd be down at the Police station filing a complaint ASAP. That's how it should be.

You're not the only one: I thought it a wasted opportunity. It was effectively just a action flick involving three levels. yes I guess it would be too much to expect American mainstream movies to deal with philosophical issues, but I thought the idea (as identified by Di Carprio) that altering a person's dreams/mind will affect their entire being (or words to that effect) was screaming out for exploration. Personal pick to continue to the theme is "The Wickerman" but the original (not the Nicholas Cage travesty): psychedelic folk music, pagan sacrifice and (most of all) Christopher Lee. I still can't get that film out of my mind.

As someone has observed, responses vary according to the constitution of the person using it. I can swear that it's done more good for me than any thing I've tried. The exception is triphala, which should be on everyone's list. That said, I will stop using shilajit for a month (so to take a break), and give it to my domestic guinea pig aka my partner, so that I can see just what effect it has. I noticed when in Santa Monica some months back that Ron Teeguarden has a shilajit product in his store. Ron has some useful information about it on his website: http://www.dragonherbs.com/prodinfo.asp?number=526

I have them too. Am luke warm about them. They're pretty peculiar sounds, and I found them extraordinarily distracting the first couple of times: quite a few of them have often startling crescendos, and many of them have strange (for western ears) tonal shifts. I've had moments when it's felt like something -- a sort of real detachment -- has occurred in my mind. They do seem to have some discernible physiological impact too. But certainly don't expect miracles, and for his credit Frantzis (unlike those binaural beats guys) doesn't make wild claims.

Three years and still obsessed with it? And still under the delusion that any one cares about your genitalia? Now that's what I call an unhealthy attachment. Not to mention bad taste in mentioning it to others.