doc benway

I feel no hatred or anger for you or any of the More Pie people, more like disbelief and sympathy... I suspect one thing that bothers people is your efforts to recruit people to practice a system that is a dead end. That is quite unfair to others not to mention yourself. You know, without question, that you only have access to a very small fraction of the training system and no guidance of an accomplished master to help navigate the subtle and occasionally hazardous paths of energy work. You know there is no possibility of ever receiving intermediate or advanced teachings beyond the 2nd step of 72... Yet you hope somehow these more advanced teachings will magically appear someday, otherwise all of your efforts are for naught, and you say you take nothing on faith. And you want others to buy in to this dead end along with you, eschewing other opportunities to enrich their lives with other methods of training because they don't have a videotape of an ohmmeter registering electricity. Meanwhile many of these other methods have actual scientific research to support their efficacy and you do not. And you call this reasonable, rational, and down to earth? I call it delusional.

Upcoming free teachings of dream yoga on Facebook Live starting June 6th. All talks are recorded so you don't have to be available at the scheduled time.

The fluidity and connectedness of his body movement are hypnotic... Can't wait to meet him!

Watts was a bright light that illuminated quite a few lives.

Lately, I've been thinking of our species as a collective cancer on the skin of our Mother... Perhaps spiritual practice is the only Medicine

Nothing would be healthier for our ecosystem than a decline in human population...

So bye bye for now. I have need of a good rest Badass bees buzz byzzzzzz

I really like working with these folks - http://www.destinationom.com/ They're mainly into malas but check out their site, you may find something you like. I've not seen them work with meterorite but I did have a very nice lava stone wrist mala from them. I also have a beautiful one that is bone and amber.

Going back to the original format, I don't practice this style but find the body movement interesting. Hulei Jia Taijiquan, Thunder Style. It can be traced back to Li Jinyan, student of Chen Qingping, 7th generation Chen master This is Grandmaster Zhang Suisheng

Yes, I don't know much about his program but I do believe that's the form he teaches.

When you identify your own basic entity yourself and directly ascertain its meaning continuously and forever in meditative equipoise, then even though acting in the world, you are enlightened. ~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama ~

I have a good friend who teaches Chinese martial arts in Luton. He is a superb martial artist and a great person. His specialty is shuai jiao but his taiji skills are top notch as well. If you end up north of London, look him up. Rob Simpson - http://www.icma.kuoshu.co.uk/Zheng Yi Guan.html

In that case... I never practiced Guang Ping but I highly recommend Master Kuo's book Tai Chi Boxing Chronicle which is how I learned about the style. I'm going to leave the video up because it's superb. I do still practice Chen Panling's 99 most days. A very nice example of what I'm currently studying... performed by my teacher's teacher's nephew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJOcx0rWfM8

Here is the best version of 99 Forms of Chen Panling I've come across (this video credits the form to Wang Shujin but most sources credit CPL). Chen Panling created this form while working with the Central Guoshu Committee which he chaired prior to WW2. The committee was charged with creating standardized national kuo shu materials and this form incorporates Yang, Wu, Chen, and Sun elements.

It's not quite accurate to say that silk reeling is the Chen equivalent of cloud hands. The silk reeling movement is present in cloud hands, and essentially every other movement throughout taijiquan in one way or another. Cloud hands is simply one expression. Silk reeling exercise provides many benefits - when first starting you'll notice the horse stance and sore shoulders more than anything. Once the legs and arms are conditioned, many things will open up. Others can certainly speak more about this topic than me but it works whole body coordination, mind-body integration, opening of the channels, flexibility of the kua, all of which cultivate the spiral energy and internal power.

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Exactly, in cloud hands there is the combined translation and rotation movements - all of it is rooted in the feet, generated by the legs, guided by the hips, expressed in the hands. There is no movement in the arms that is not connected to the kua. This is cultivated in Chen style with silk reeling practice Here is a great example from Zhu Xianghua, son of Grandmaster Zhu Tiancai, watch the interplay of hard and soft. The explosive power is dependent on both. If you are on the East Coast of the US, Grandmaster Zhu will be visiting Washington DC for a workshop in late August. My first taijiquan teacher was very traditional - he would demonstrate something 3 times then leave. You got it or you didn't... It took me several years but I eventually realized that the secret to learning from him (at least for me), was to watch his feet and waist (by waist I really mean kua). If I got that right, the arms and hands would naturally follow and would be easy to refine.

I'd love to hear anything you'd like to share. I've played with some solid Guang Ping folks but never studied it. I do read Master Kuo's book [...not did, mind you - I never stop learning from this book!] I've heard some criticism of it's provenance but I think it is brilliant. Do you know anything about it?

I'll lead off with a lesser known form which I feel is worth knowing about: Guang Ping Yang taijiquan Guang Ping Yang style form is said to be the original form adapted by Yang Luchan from his training in Chen village. Yang Luchan --> Yang Panhou --> Wang Jiaoyu --> Kuo Lienying (who brought it to San Francisco) Master Kuo was the author of The Tai Chi Boxing Chronicle As for the person demonstrating, it is the late Grandmaster Chiang Yunchung: http://slantedflying.com/tai-chi-master-y-c-chiang-passes-away/

I thought it worth sharing that the workshop Liminal Luke was referring to is here: http://www.glidewing.com/twr/dreamyoga_home.html Unlike the Facebook Live teachings, this workshop has a fee as it is hosted by Glidewing, an independent entity. It's a great workshop. I've spent 2 weeks in retreat with him on these practices, done the workshop, and read the book. I can confidently say that the workshop has everything you need to establish a solid dream practice. Jox, I think Silent Thunder is referring to this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199519.The_Tibetan_Yogas_Of_Dream_And_Sleep Great resource for dream and sleep yoga with the emphasis on dream yoga. The supporting practices discussed for dream yoga are also used for the sleep practice. If anyone is working with these practices and has questions, I can help with the basics.

Thank you for your advice and concern

Check out the punch at 0:59. I won't exclude the possibility that she has a very small and powerful circle hidden by her silks but all I'm seeing is the triceps snap her punch out. All explosive techniques in taijiquan are an expression of whole body power - rooted in the feet, generated in the legs, controlled by the kua, and expressed through the trunk and limbs. A good example of whole body explosive power is the punch in Chen Bing's excellent clip at 1:48 and 2:05.

I'm sorry you feel that way, I hope things get better for you. Yes, dream yoga is a slow practice. It takes months and years to see results. You say that it sounds like you need to get up and walk to practice... don't you sleep? Everyone sleeps every night (nearly), why not make that a path of transformation? The practices are actually quite simple and require little work but a lot of patience and commitment. I'm not trying to sell you on it... we each have to do what we have a connection to. You clearly do not feel a connection to dream practices. That's fine.

It's my view that chatting online, particularly when that discussion tends to be critical of others, is far more unhealthy than traditional dream and sleep yoga practices. Dream and sleep practices help us to liberate karmic traces and samsaric patterns. Criticizing others' practices online tends to accumulate karmic traces and reinforces samsaric patterns. At the end of the day, it's your choice. The practices have been very beneficial to me. I'm curious, if you've never studied the practices or worked with a teacher what do you base your criticism on?

You're free to do as you wish