zhoupeng

In our hearts, no one would consciously want to be a coward. It makes us dislike ourselves for being helpless in a situation where we often wish we could have acted otherwise. But we must always ask ourselves what makes us feel like cowards, and whether or not it is a valid reason (to make one feel like a coward, not actually act it out and be one). I do not believe that avoiding a street fight is necessarily a good reason good reason for feeling like a coward, but that's just me. Forget Taoism for the moment and let's look at it from a different perspective: In each of the following steps of escalation, you had the choice to either a) Ignore him or tell him to Fuk off or walking away b Escalate the confrontation through insults and threats while getting angry c) Start Fighting 1) The guy came over and started insulting your friend. You didn't like this. 2) You decided get involved because he was disrespecting your friend. 3) You both get angry and start shouting and threatening each other. 4) The guy's friend comes over and he gets involved. As the sequence of events progresses from 1 to 4, it does not appear to me that if you had chosen to respond with choice a) at any point then you would have been a coward. Not that b or c) makes you a coward either, mind you. So you might want to think about what exactly you made you feel like you were going to a coward at that time. As for your question about violence, Iet's ignore the discussion about cowardice for now and revisit the same sequence of events outlined above. Obviously I am not advocating violence or street fighting but throwing outcome out of the window, at which points in steps 1) to 4) did you feel you should have chosen choice c)? Hit him when he started insulting your friend? Hit him only when both you and him have started insulting each other and gotten angry? Hit him when his friend decides to get involved? I am no security expert but maybe you should save the violence for when you and your friend really are in danger. And that quick, sudden violence is more of an effective solution than an attractive prospect. When it is time you just Act. Just like that. Solve the problem and get out. No more or less than is necessary. Make it clean. If the situation calls for it, Do it. None of us really need Choice b

Recently an incident occured in my office involving a co worker who had botched an assignment in which he was supposed to work with some clients. The boss screamed at him non stop for what seemed like ages with all sorts of personal attacks and the whole experience made him feel very bad. The reason for his poor performance was that he somehow unable to establish a good relationship with these clients and communicate with them well; it wasn't that he was not trying to do his job or that the clients were nasty people. This particular guy told me he often felt nervous and impatient when talking to clients, even when he knew the answers to their questions and theoretically understood, to minute detail, what exactly he need to do and say when meeting them. It was like there was some internal reason why he just couldn't execute his plan and the harder he tried, the more he came off as pushy, annoying and defensive- which just drives people away. At a loss, people were telling him to "Just Relax", "Have Patience and Be Polite", "Have Confidence", "Focus" and "JUST DO IT" but it is clear that this wasn't helping him. This is a recurring problem and has left him very despondent indeed. "I just feel like something is broken in my programming", he said. "I know what to do inside and out but I just can't do it, it's not a question of willpower as I have been struggling all my life and haven't given up but don't seem to get anywhere with it." When I heard him say this I came to the realisation that I too, suffer greatly from "broken programming". I could relate to exactly what he was trying to convey and I understood how helpless it must make him feel to see a lifelong weakness choke him out whenever he tries to get past it by pushing through it. It is like pushing some buttons on a TV remote control and not getting the intended response- the physical button is there and you can push it as hard as you want but something in the circuitry is not working properly and this prevents the device from performing as it should. With a remote control people will (if they resist the urge to hurl it in to a wall) either throw it away and get a replacement or ignore the problem. Very few will try to find out what is wrong with the circuitry and get it fixed. Are Humans like remote controls?? I will never be convinced that they are. But it seems that I am in the minority: in this and many cases that I have seen, most people just conclude that the person has a problem and will keep telling him: "Try Harder" "Keep pushing" "Just DO IT" and "RAAaaAArrRRGGGGHH!!!!" and when this approach does not bring immediate improvement, "You have a Problem" "You are just Flawed" "You are No Good at this" "Go somewhere else, we don't want someone like YOU" Is life really that Damning for people who have the misfortune to discover that they lack natural talent in some areas? Conventional wisdom based on the currently prevailing goal-oriented-results-driven-scientific-method paradigm would suggest it is. An awful lot of people seem so ready to dismiss any problem that cannot be solved by their conventional theoretic knowledge as a lost cause. I myself have many experiences with 'broken programming' and am sure practically everyone does too. But looking within and admitting these weaknesses is already hard for many people, let alone finding a way to work through them. The 'Try Harder' and "JUST DO IT" approach works for people who do not have a serious blockage in the particular field in question. Telling somene to try harder when it just is a matter of effort is common sense. But in my experience "broken programming" is beyond that. It is almost like some kind of internal/energetic blockage that causes abberant behaviour in certain circumstances; it can hardly be controlled through willpower alone and causes all sorts of problems. Has anyone experienced anything like this? If so, if you are comfortable about speaking about them, what do you feel would be a good way to deal with them besides "Try Harder" and "JUST DO IT"? I have picked up meditation and to some extent, religion again now that I feel that the phsical scientific method has its limitations. It is a shame that people should be driven to hopelessness over their current limitations. I feel that human potential is boundless and is there to be developed. We just need to go about it the right way. Any thoughts welcome. (And my apologies for the long post.)

This is an Excellent Post. Thank you very much for sharing!

If you want to do this properly it would be helpful to note that the three steps are not as simple as they may seem. Each of the three components need to be practiced and honed to fluency separately before they are integrated in one practice. Each one of the three components mentioned here are quite complex and in themselves include sub-components that also need to be trained. Here is an example: Abdominal Breathing - Proper and successful attainment has the following pre requisites that need to be developed: - Being able to Relax while you do it. - Maintaining concentration and a focused, peaceful mind for extended periods - Making the transition between inhale and exhale seamless - Lengthening the breath on both inhale and exhale without tensing or forcing it - Making the inhale and exhale equale in length - Developing it so that the above points all become second nature and can be done on auto-pilot all the time. Each one of the points can be further broken down in to even more steps. A simple practice is not so simple if one wants to dig deeper in search of mastery. The same analysis/breakdown can be applied to The Secret Smile and Microcosmic Orbit, which, by the way is a lot more complex than Abdominal breathing! I suppose if the three components are mastered in the manner outlined above before integrating them then the Kundalini Awakening will not be quite so brutal and painful. It will also take much longer than 90 days. ^^

Re: Aikido Aikido as it exists now is not internal. This can clearly be seen in its practitioners and in my opinion, is not up for debate. However, Ueshiba clearly had internal abilities that allowed him to manifest power and martial applications that went beyond the realm of the physical and this too is a fact. It should be noted though, that his abilities came from training in Daito Ryu and prior to his invention of Aikido. Daito Ryu is very much an internal art with japanese jujutsu as its basis and includes a whole regimen of solo training methods to develop the qi and whole body sensitivity/coordination that makes internal arts possible. If there are any Aikido practitioners out there who can demonstrate internal martial art qualities then they would have cross trained in other styles that have it. The Aikido training system by itself does not have these elements and there no way someone can get it from just doing Aikido alone. Re: Systema Systema is a very effective martial method, the training of which is centred on building efficient and coordinated use of the body in a framework of realistic fighting applications. This is the strength of the system and is based on the concepts of relaxation, natural body movement and sensitivity coupled with fine motor control of one's body. What makes Systema special is the method of teaching a person to integrate this quality of natural movement and sensitivity to real world fighting applications. This, I feel, is an area in which many traditional martial arts can learn from. As to whether Systema can be classified as internal, I would have to say that it depends upon the practitioner. The systema drills will develop a high degree of flexibility, coordination, sensitivity and body control and coupled with the proper relaxation, can simulate the FEEL of internal martial arts. Internal arts encompasses all these qualities but training in them alone does not necessarily make one's art internal. An example would be Scott Sonnon and his Rmax program. Clearly he is someone who took the above qualities to a very high level in his training (which has R.O.S.S as its basis) but I am sure we can agree that he is not 'internal' like Ueshiba was. That said, systema also has a breathing/meditation component to it which I know little about but may be the bridge to the internal qualities of that system. Vladimir Vasiliev has a book out explaining some of the basic breathing methods called "Let Every Breath". I have also heard that the high level russian systema practitioners have certain abilities that are absent in even the most experienced of the foreign (non russian) students. So perhaps they are holding back something for their own.

Excellent Point. Thank You.

Thanks for sharing your perspective regarding cats and power. I see what you mean and hopefully this can help me understand cats a little better.

I like your story because it is a very simple reduction of a complex topic that I find quite illuminating. Thanks for posting it. Using your example, this is what I found: When he starts out, (t=0) the man's goal is to be the strongest in the world. He has his training method that he is confident in (which is digging holes). He sets about his task with great determination and perseverence. I might add that he probably doesn't listen to anyone else and just focuses on what he is doing because in any society his training method will definitely draw attention and people will think he is crazy and start talking shit about how pointless/stupid it is. We do not know how he progresses for the next 14 years (t=1 to t=14). We do not know about his rate of progress, whether he felt some doubt about his purpose or whether he started doubting his methodology. We DO know that he has NOT changed his goal as for this duration he is still doing the same thing as he was when he started (t=0), otherwise he would have already stopped. We do know that after 15 years (t=15) he has achieved the goal he set out at t=0. We also know that he no longer cares, or rather no longer sees the importance of having attained that goal. BUT HE HAS ALREADY ATTAINED IT. HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN WHAT HE SET OUT TO ACCOMPLISH. He attained it through - Having a clear idea about his goal - Having a good methodology that he is confident in - Maintaining diligence and perseverence no matter what - Not listening to those who do not share his goals and have no interest in his progress towards them - Just doing his thing until he no longer cares because he is far enough in his development that the original goal is not relevent anymore From t=0 to t=14 it was very important for him that he does. AT t=15 it is irrelevent, but that is taking in to consideration the fact that he has already put in the hard work and gone the distance. There is No Way this man is going to say his goal is irrelevant when he was at t=0, having done no training, and just starting out on his path. It follows that it make no sense to tell any man at t=0 that he shouldn't take the first step (and keep going) because by the time he gets to t=15 it is going to be irrelevent. It is almost a form of covert sabotage to make sure he doesn't set out in the first place and therefore ends up achieving Nothing. He has to walk that path himself. He has to Train And Persevere to reach his own goal And when he reaches it and finds its irrelevent, he makes a new goal for himself.

Thank you for the above paragraph. This is really good advice. I particularly appreciate your mention of the distinction between wimpy qigong and real qigong; in my experience too many practices are passed off as being 'real qigong' when their effectiveness in terms of raising the vibrational energy and even promoting health through qi flow is appallingly low. A good example is "Tai Cheeee Dance", which paying no attention to zhan zhuang, proper stances in transition, body alignments, breath/movement coordination and training of Yi is a horrendous waste of time. The same can be said of similar diluted/corrupted practices that have their internal mind/body components and instructions thoroughly gutted out before being supplied sold to the public. Like an empty desktop case with all the hardware gutted out sold off as a real computer or pharmaceutical products that contain no active ingredients. The same can also be said of meditation practices that only tell you to 'just sit there' and 'be patient' without giving you the proper instructions on how to train your mind to achieve the meditation state (Wu Wei) that is supposed to be the object of the exercise. Doing a lifetime of these practices will get you nowhere in your training. It will only make you more frustrated and disillusioned with your development. I agree completely that anyone seeking power or anything else for that matter should be mindful of choosing their practices carefully.

It is funny you brought this up, I have recently had someone leave her cat with me to look after while she went away for a holiday. I have always liked cats and find it an interesting experience to have one as a roommate. However I don't know how much of an 'energy master' this particular cat is though, I find that more than anything, taking care of a cat is an exercise in patience and observation. Over the past week I learnt that a cat will only live in a way that is natural for it, the way it was created to do by Nature. Living with a cat means understanding this and establishing a working relationship with these principles while at the same time maintaining harmony between myself, the cat, and the environment (in this case my room, more specifically making sure the cat does not wreck my room). I know that this can apply to all animals but cats in particular are true to their original nature. While I see this whole matter as a training opportunity, I do not particularly feel that the cat is 'an example of power'. Maybe it is just this particular cat, or there is another angle from which I haven't yet looked at the matter. As someone who also likes cats, would you care to elaborate on how cats relate to power? Anyone else on this forum who likes cats (and theres seems to be quite a few ^^), please feel free to give us your angle too!!

Before anyone starts talking about someone else's ego, please do everyone a favour and take a minute to examine yourself. There. To anyone reading this, let's play a game: lets go through this thread and read all the posts that purport to give some sort of 'advice' and play 'Spot The Ego' . Pay special attention to use of punctuation and tone of expression. Try to guess what the person's facial expression behind the computer screen is like when he is writing it. Is the writer feeling interested in the topic of discussion, got a chip on his shoulder, trying to prove something, or just trying his genuine best to help others? Personally I find it distasteful to talk down to others if clearly you have the same problem. Hypocrisy does not have a high rate of success when you want to persuade others to see things as you do.

Thanks for this, I guess I can see now why many people have not experienced it. They need to let go of the desire to control! ^^

This is correct and is a very good point. People pursue power because they feel powerless and in fear. And they Should do so. Being honest with yourself is definitely good advice for everyone; it is only then that one learns to work correct one's weaknesses and in doing so gain power. The path of the renunciate should be respected as should the path of power. I am glad you wrote this. We are all stuck here. Better make something out of it, no?

I would like to thank Mike for putting in the time and effort to provide a detailed description of his system. I also thank Vortex for kindly sharing it with us, I for one really appreciate it!

The first time I heard a detailed explanation of yin qi was when I read 'The Magus of Java' by Kosta Danaos. While I can say that previously I was not aware of the distinction in quality between yin and yang qi, I was not aware of mo pai and its definitions of qi either. From what I read here and on the other threads in this forum it seems that many people are using the same terminology to describe different things. For example some people see yin qi as the yuan qi or original pre-birth qi in the body (which relative to the post-birth qi is yin), and others have been talking about absorbing qi from the earth (the earth's qi being yin relative to that of the sky/heavens), and still others see yin qi as a method of expression ie. the roll back energy of taijiquan (which is yin relative to the expanding energy of taijiquan). These are all valid and very good observations from which we can all learn a lot, not just about qi, but also about how others see,interpret and use qi. One thing that I would like to bring up is specifically concerned with the mo pai definition of yin qi; has anyone actually worked with this themselves? Is it something that is in the body already and needs to be trained just like 'regular qi'? Why is it that in mo pai they say that merging yin and yang qi is so dangerous? Is this process something that is unatural? Any help from someone who has worked with similar practices in clarifying this would be appreciated, Thanks!