DaoChild

Buddha boy was proven by several film crews to be a fraud. I believe a French crew caught him eating an apple while he was supposed to be fasting, and he was passed out sleeping while he was supposed to be meditating. Keep in mind, at night he "goes behind a curtain" from 5 pm to 5 am, and no one can see him then. Also, going without food is totally different than being hungry. I've done a 5 day no food fast and felt little to no hunger - and I have very little body fat from college sports (meaning I think it would be more difficult for me vs someone 250 pounds with body fat). I felt very little hunger, but definitely was weak at around day 4. If I can see someone go without food or water for a few weeks, then I'll believe it. Or if someone has a claim that can teach me, I'll practice every day and film it myself. Regarding Bigu - it says right on the website you eat a special diet... it's not regular no-food fasting. Is there a different type where you don't eat anything?

In my opinion, trying to grasp the Way is impossible. It is formless, shapeless - not something you can simply covet like a possession. Rather, when you have cultivated yourself, refined your self, and live your life in a way that is undeniably true and harmonious -- it will naturally flow in, like water into a vessel. Texts have their place, but experience will always be more important than intellectual knowledge in these circumstances (and in my opinion). It took me a long, long time to grasp this. You can't explain it because it's not tangible -- you can only experience it. The dynamic dance of stillness and movement, if you ask me, is the way to longevity.

Sure it's EASIER to experience it away from humanity in solitude. Of course -- living among like-minded spiritual people, or beings, or nature is the easiest thing of all. But to embrace the Tao in daily life is the most difficult of all. Just like meditation with soft music and no ambient noise may be perfect - but when you need it on the subway, can you do it? We are but fish in the sea.

Hi Sloppy Zhang, Funny this post came up. I haven't studied Bagua, but in the next few months will be starting - and around christmas time / spring time next year I'll be moving to Beijing to study Bagua and Taoism 24/7. I can tell you what i've heard of He Jinbao, since I myself am hoping to be able to study directly under him / his students where he teaches when I go. What I've heard: Some of the earlier videos i've heard aren't very useful - he sort of does the circle circle walk or doesn't show much beyond the very very basics. It takes a lot of time going into the real details. I have heard that some of the DVDs on the other animal forms are useful though (Since most practitioners don't get beyond Lion, and I think there are about 8). Bagua is a very complicated art, and like most martial arts, I would not recommend you trying to learn it A) Alone and B ) Without a teacher. I'm not a beginner to Chinese martial arts so I can definitely say a teacher is pretty much necessary if you want to get anywhere - even if only at the start. It's incredibly important to have someone there pointing out your every physical flaw, but also someone there to see the look in your eyes, the emotion (or lack thereof), and the overall flow of your practice. It goes so much beyond the scope of a DVD or book. Info on Yin Style, from He Jinbao study group: http://www.yinstylebaguazhang.com/index.html You can find contact information, and a bunch of articles there. Comparing Bagua styles: http://www.geocities.com/ycgf/bagua.htm

Hi Wenwu, I get up early before class and do a 20-30 minute meditation, every morning. And then I usually do another 30 minutes of purely deep breathing meditation at sunset or night time. One thing I realize in my own practice of life (martial arts, meditation, herbs, studying, etc.) is that discipline and devotion -- consistency -- are of the utmost importance. Especially with meditation, you will see it has a cumulative sort of effect, so keeping with it daily is important. When you have one of those days when you can't do it.. just sit calmly, quietly. Maybe breathing and focusing on breath is easier than resting in stillness, so do that. Enjoy it too, maybe if you can't sit still, do a movement meditation. Even if you don't know Taiji, just move your body slowly and let it guide you.

What do I not like? I don't like (regardless of what you believe) how people try to talk to others, like a Doctor would speak to a layman using medical terminology. If you want people to understand you, sympathize with you, you can't go up to a person with a western science degree and start talking about "Chi, energy, prana, meditation." Either put them in different words or explain them differently - I think that most people plain suck at explaining things in layman's terms. Example: you study alternative medicine, and someone who heavily is into Allopathic medicine comes to you for depression. They are hesitant - but heard good things, and want to give it a try since nothing else worked. You CANNOT say "Well I feel there is an imbalance in your energy field, I'll give you some good energy and you will be okay." Dumb -- they're just going to say they met this quack that works in an alternative health clinic somewhere. Rather, you can counsel them if you need to. Ask how their relationship is with people around them, would they classify themselves as happy or sad, share your own suspicions, go into detail, smile alot -- and try to make them really trust you and open up. It still boggles my mind that we see more and more people who "want" to believe things, either without the devotion / discipline to try them, or without a mind critical enough to scrutinize them. The result? Many other people who study religion or spirituality are called quacks, fools, hippies, insane.

Thank you very much for this. As someone who has asthma since childhood, I've been loosely experimenting with methods to help calm myself when I have an attack. As a martial artist, college athlete, and generally active person -- this is really important! Thank you again, Off I go to breathe.