thelerner

I took a beginners class with him many years ago. I don't think he's a fraud. I think he'd be a great teacher, the problem may be he got so famous so fast, he not the guy teaching a weekly class in NY anymore. Learning esoteric energy meditations from books doesn't cut it, videos aren't much better. Most people lack foundational experience and the feedback only a live teacher can give. People I respect say he has juice and have gone far with his methods. I find healing tao throws too many techniques at student too quickly, which may be my own bias towards simplicity. I also find it promises too much, though they may not be lying but rather basing the claim on there best students and not the average. Chia was an early pioneer in showing the West taoist energy techniques. IMO his role should be honored, not chastened.

I was reading this post " and it got me wondering. I'm skeptical about curses, educate me. Who places them? Why? Are some people more natural receptacles? Do they have a link to karma? What is there nature and is it different between cultures? How do we spot charlatans using the concept to con? Thanks Michael

I'd also add its probably a bad idea to make any blanket statement on Spiritual Teachers. They are too diverse a group. I also think instead of spending years or decades searching out a 'true' master, we can learn much from resources and teachers be they yoga, martial art, tai chi, or any meditative tradition close to us. Our dedication and deepness of our practice sets up our foundation. And without a solid foundation it doesn't matter what 'masters' we meet. Ultimately it makes sense to travel and learn from the best you can, but early on and in the mean time, practice what you know and 'love the one you're with'.

It's a trap that's easy to fall into. We dust ourselves off, get up speed and trip into it again . These days I'm thinking its not so bad. We're human, we're passionate, we're Not enlightened, so let us be honest; make mistakes, and say I apologize, I was wrong. just to save some time, to all the people I've wronged in the past; I'm sorry. to all the bastards I'll wrong in the future, sorry, my bad

I applaud the idea of journaling it. I've done Max Christensens style of Kunlun and I'm sure I'll get Sifu Lamb's DVD one day, so I'm very interested in your progress. Two thing's. I'm not sure what you mean with a time period between 4 to 10 pm. That seems like an awfully long time. For an energy meditation it could be a problem going too long and too deep. I would be surprised if she recommended that much so soon. <I could be wrong> Two, this style of journaling may be more appropriate to our Personal Blog site. Ask the mods for one and they should be able to create one for you in the Personal section. One plus is it gives you total control over what posts stay and which are deleted. That way you don't have to deal with annoying unasked advice posts; like mine . Look forward to reading how your practice goes. Michael

There's one sure fire method of enlightenment from the guys who did the 9 minute abs video series. Works every time, but its kind of expensive. Kidding, kidding.. the answers people have given are good. Find something that resonates with you. Its okay to spend a year or so 'shopping' around, but to make real progress you'll have to marry a technique; be committed to it. I'd drop the Western concept of best and fastest, that'll get you the McDonalds of systems. Around these parts there is KAP, an online skyped class through Santiago, an meditative energy based system based on Glenn Morris's work. Ya Mu has excellent seminars on a medical chi gung system. There is the unique and simple system from Max Christensen of Kunlun that's fascinating. I think Michael Winn's courses from the Healing Tao USA are very good. Good, great, bad and ugly are very much in the eye of the beholder when it comes to judging these systems. When you're beginning a live teacher who can give you feedback is best. So close and affordable is very good. A wise down to earth teacher, can give you the basics and foundation so that you waste time chasing after charlatans, and when you do find an amazing teacher, you're worthy to study under them, and not a noobie.

Nice link. Good articles.

As a third answer, I'd throw out maybe its not connected to the past and its not psychological at all. Its just the way she is and maybe its not so bad. Just include a vibrator and some extra time in the love making and there should be no problem for any party involved. That's not to say other answers shouldn't be explored, but if they're not the solution, maybe there is nothing wrong, sexual responses vary greatly between people.

A right brain approach might be making 2 columns and writing pluses on one side, minuses on the other for each job. A left brain approach is pretending you've decided to take job A. Take your time, let it sink in,.. and see how you feel. Take a break, then do the same for Job B. This method gives some room for you subconscious to answer. If both methods point in the same direction, you're in good shape, not that life won't throw you a curve ball.

21 Pictures that will Restore Your Faith in Humanity: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity

Maybe, but I have a hard time believing I'm that powerful. If I were that godlike I'd prefer a little more power in my own 'reality'. Seems at some point I'd forget my self imposed limits and fly a bit, materialize something good to eat every now and then.. lose some weight. Seems like in extreme situations people would 'hulk-out' or god-out if that were really the case.

My first thought is its a meditative illusion. Like when a long session of meditation seems to pass very quickly, I wonder if this non breath is simply a very very slow one. When I do long meditation and its going well my breath cycle gets longer and subtler. When it does thats some of the deepest state I fall into. Food for thought.. maybe fast food.

You've pinpointed the problem spot , right here 'An expectation not met, is a desire or need not met; therefore, a negative emotion results'. And that's social conditioning; its also a choice if we have honed our awareness. Not to be so attached when our expectations/desires aren't met, we don't need to 'go negative'. Its about downgrading desires to preferences, and being happy(or neutral) with what we get. We're human so we'll have preferences, but we can't let them make us into emotional yo yo's. There are times to judge and think, but we do way to much of it. We've confused Our Being with mental tools and its bloated our egos and made us constantly play 'I'm right, You're wrong' games, much to our detriment.

thinking about what is possible, is not knowing. Really what we're talking about it possibilities, 0 to 100, impossible to 'seen it, done it'. People turning invisible to others..I've read accounts from people I trust that say its possible, certainly in the 'siddhi' range, and may or may not have to do with light passing through solid. Could well be other mechanisms at work. One person theorized it was projecting an outwards aura. Cabbages talking to each other, doubtful, but let me ask this cucumber; Cucumber said only online. The extreme isn't necessarily a fantasy world. Its rare, but inspiring and ripe with charlatans. I tend to think its best to keep ones mind open, but ones wallet closed.

I find its useful to not think in terms of a specific goal, but in terms of a specific habit. The habit is where the fruit lies, specific goals are things to be gotten and discarded. Focus and work on a habit that will get you where you want to go. Make it a path that infuses many aspects of your life.

Some of that seems a bit grandiose for a new center. I'd like to see herb gardens in with sacred geometries. Paths for bare feet that start rocky to evolve into sand; paths that form bau guas and trigrams. Trellises of grapes, meditation places filled with purple lavendar. I'd like to see hammocks instead of beds, big bonfires, pieces of thick tree stumps carved into meditation seats.

First, nothing but respect for ShaktiMama; her experience and sharing. I've found shaking runs through many systems. In Ki Aikido we'd shake vigorously, with small motion. In Kap it was much bigger moving the whole body up and down. Healing Tao has some shaking warm ups. In Kunlun you hold a static position and it causes various shaking. In Stillness Movement meditation there is a rocking when doing sitting meditation. You go to a orthodox shul and see people standing and praying with a similar rocking motion. There's a sect of Christianity literally called Shakers. When things are that cross cultural, there is usual some gold there.

Glen Morris's book 'Path notes of ..' talks about invisibility. After reading it I found if I was in a darkened room, stared at myself in a mirror, stopped thinking and let my eyes either defocus or 'wide' focus I'd disappear from the mirror, but if I let that startle me, I'd reappear. I don't think its a siddhi, I'm sure other people would be able to see me, it may be a trick of the eye or human software. Or it might be playing with the aura, darkening it. He mentioned the ability goes further then that (and gives a few anecdotes), but I don't think it allows you to be an invisible person, but at certain times, with certain (dark) conditions, it can keep you from being noticed.

There are also some gentle forms of reverse breathing, maybe I shouldn't refer to them as reverse breath at all. In the Wudangtao (wudangtao.com) audios master Chen has you contracting your butt as you breath in, and relaxing as you breath out. It gives a bit of same energetic feel as reverse breathing, but seems easier and gentler because you're not reversing the abdomen.

While one shouldn't argue with the wisdom of the Hagakure, to get too imaginative is to bring on clinging. I think there's much value in going to bed, reviewing the day impassionately and in the belief this may be it, your last day. And on waking to realize you're a new creature born again. Kinda hard to pull off though.

Esoteric practitioners, all of us, students even teachers in energy meditations can go off kilter. We can get paranoid and/or have messianic fantasies. It happens and unfortunately we don't get help because it's taken to be part of our spiritual awakening. We all need friends and the feedback of experienced teachers to keep us on track. The best advice is often, ignore the 'demons' and ground, ground, ground, even if it means stopping meditation. I completely understand ignoring my advice (I ignore it all the time), but Seth Ananda and some of the others posting have been around the block a few times. They speak from personal experience. Tulku would be wise to listen.

I'm sorry for being insulting. One of the fruits of Taoism is long life. In Taoism longevity is important because there's a lot to learn and unlearn. Much training to be done, levels to get through..awareness to hone. Its not a new age system where wishes are all that's needed. The Tao is a path and progress is measured by decades. Keep your feet on the ground, half the battle is finding a good teacher; a real live one with solid credentials.

Actually we're a group that's interested in spirit, chi and so forth. We're not the general public, we accept out of the ordinary concepts pretty well. He Tulku/Body of Light/DTHE is considered disturbed because every 3rd or 4rth post is obliquely suicidal. At best we're giving a Drama King an active audience, at worst we're feeding a manic depressive's suicidal fantasy. my 2 bits.

It's cliche, but you can't do anything about your past. Sometimes all you can do is reinvent yourself. Find out what you enjoy or even what scares you and dive in, do it. Stay busy, put yourself in situations where you meet new people, especially in situations where you can help them. I was shy in college and joined a service fraternity APO. Unlike social fraternities we had weekly projects to help others, charities, etc. and still had a few parties over the year. Seeing where you can help others gets you moving and amongst good people. I find Eckhart Tolle's work to be very soothing. When the past stinks and your anxious about the future, you can carve out a little space in the 'Right Now' and find peace and solace. There are library books and free Itune podcasts of his around.