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Oh yes... it's dreadfully lonely at the top, breathing in this spiritually pure and rarified air. No one else but me... and Megan Fox

I despise Buddhism... It looks very nice on the surface, but much of its philosophy points toward renunciation and sexual repression. This gets my vote for the uninformed comment of the week. Proclaiming that you despise Buddhism is like saying you despise music or candy. Do you despise Brittany Spears and the Back Street Boys, or is it Miles Davis and John Mclaughlin that really inspires revulsion? Do you puke at the thought of Tootsie Rolls or gourmet chocolate-covered pecans? Buddhism is not represented by a monolithic voice, and a cursory reading of the history of the philosophy should make that obvious. It blends in with indiginous ideas throughout time and place; it is practiced differently in Thailand than in San Francisco. Nor does it have anything to do with forced renunciation or sexual repression. It's about getting in touch with your instincts and environmental conditioning so that you are not taken hostage by them. You can be a devout Buddhist and still have an exciting sex life; problems arise when you can't control your urges, your desire, your indulgences. I honor your secular allegiances. I was a critical thinking junkie in college and I've become even more convinced of the wisdom of a humanistic approach as I get older. There is a vibrant movement of agnostic Buddhism afoot, mostly inspired by Stephen Batchelor whose magnificent work "Buddhism Without Beliefs" and his soon to be released "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" have reconciled humanistic sensibilities with the psychological tools of Buddhist mind training. http://www.insightla.org/schedule_details....&adref=menu A little gentleness and cognitive hygiene is in order here, pal. Making enemies with entire philosophical traditions is a proclamation of spiritual infancy.

Congratulations, man! Tobacco is a ferocious weed. It doesn't even have any medicinal qualities. Giving up addictions is right up there with the noblest of achievements. So, what's the story with marijuana? Are you still imbibing? The ancient Chinese used it but it ultimately fell out of favor with the Taoists because it introduces so much distortion. There's no denying that it can relax you, and "Relax! Relax! Relax!" is the advice we get for getting in touch with our chi, but there is ultimately a point where you can't go without it (and this is profoundly disappointing, given that MJ is so frigging fun!!)

These really aren't questions you should be submitting to this forum. The available literature is vast, as you know. Even a quick literature review should prepare you for more thoughtful Q&A. If your questions are truly this uninformed then your research of qigong needs to be a little more robust. It's not my intention to patronize you, but really, you owe it to yourself to dig a little deeper before depending on the Net for spiritual advice. There are a handful of folks in here who have very sound advice about personal practice. Honor your own ability to learn, to do research, to find answers. Best of luck.

I recently read a Taoist sage say that the human body is the only instrument delicate and sensitive enough to detect bioelectical activity. The human nervous system is a marvelous thing that we are just beginning to appreciate for its extraordinary abilities. Alas, I don't think science will ever be able to quantify it; line up 20 anal-retentive critical thinking junkies like me and have them practice nei kung for five years and they'll get it, but can they replicate it? No. And, if all we can say, in the final analysis, is that extraordinary chi experiences are a product of the nervous system, then BFD, right? PS - some think chi is slightly above the infrared wavelength, which explains the heat. The investigation continues...

I'm pretty much convinced that I am the only one who really knows anything. Everyone else is hopelessly deluded.

According to Deng Ming-Dao, the Taoists believe that the learning curve should go from simplicity to complexity, and then reverse course back to simplicity. With all due respect, take a stats and probability class and leave the magical thinking alone. In fact, run away from it as fast as you can. Altered states of consciousness can be had by refining your nervous system. The ancient Chinese practiced the internal energy arts farther than any other culture. Take their advice and leave the circus tricks for some one else.

Congratulations, Bums! Almost all of you saw through it! Most of you passed the test! I was really beginning to wonder about this place.

You obviously don't recognize authentic spiritual genius when you see it. You are wallowing in the mud. I cannot help you.

This is my point. I'll be forced to gear down so much for you lowly sprites that my wisdom will fall upon deaf ears. Of course I'm serious. Do you think I would joke about something like this? Do you think I'm having sex with figments of my imagination?

Leet is the Trelms Gate Six of Barconius, but very few are capable of assimilating it in its pure form.

Billy Childs. Hands down the finest American pianist/composer alive today. Cue up 4:40 for a tasty lick.

Geeez... it really gives new meaning to the adage "You are all delusional!" Some folks have way too much time on their hands. Can you imagine how much progress people could make if they substituted their TTB mindfucking sessions with 30 minutes a day in Embrace Horse?

http://www.insightla.org/schedule_details....mp;event_ID=477 Stephen Batchelor, Buddhist author of "Buddhism without Beliefs," is giving a talk on "Buddhism, Agnosticism, and Atheism." I realize these subjects are taboo here in TTB, but I wanted to make this event known to LA Bums who have a healthy ecumenical spirit.

I don't believe adequate studies have been done on this technology. I began using it when I was finishing my graduate studies and it seemed to help me concentrate. I also incorporated it into my nei kung and sitting meditation, and found it extremely effective in dealing with ambient urban noise pollution (I live 0.5 miles from a fire station in LA). I would guess that for pain resolution, either short or long term, it would be the equivalent of taking aspirin when your doctor has already given you vicodin. There is always the green solution. Marijuana is not without side effects, and it's certainly not part of any serious Taoist path, but it's pretty damn effective for migraines, according to some, and it's cheap. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june302...nes_6-30-08.php Best of luck to you both.

If you Tracy and Hill you'll love ThinkTQ. They're an outfit in Boulder CO that reads EVERY self-help book written and compiles all the gathered wisdom into a 100-point life/career organizing principle. I bought the Full Spectrum Career Power book and am enjoying it a great deal. http://www.thinktq.com/

I'm rereading "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body." Frantzis says students should spend 80% of their time cultivating the Downward Current and only 20% cultivating the Upward Current, although he's clear about the precision of your postures in activating your MCO. This corroborates what an acupuncturist told me - that many people can bring the energy up; it's getting it to come down that is the tricky part, and it's more important too. I overheated with Fire Methods, but a strict water method practice would probably have taken longer too, according to Frantzis, but that's okay. So I'm checking into the Water Method for awhile. Gonna go do some dissolving. Anyone else made this switch? And, does the cultivation of the Downward Water Current make you less of a jackass? Just curious

I use bells to train my clients. You have to determine the weight based on your size, flexibility, and strength. A standard size for medium size men is the 12 kg bell. If it's too light, you won't get the desired effects; too heavy and your back can suffer. Be sure you can touch your toes with straight legs. That is the minimum level of starting flexibility you need. "Enter the Kettlebell" can get you started. http://enterthekettlebell.com/ Just don't buy the bells from Pavel. They're too expensive. There's also a ton of stuff on youtube -

Ever heard of Occam's razor? It states that all things being equal, the simplest explanation for a particular phenomenon is usually the most likely one. Just a thought, but you might want to look at your earth-bound existence first before appealling to the supernatural.

If you want to ask this question philosophically, there is no limit to what you can wrestle with. The subject matter of the self also has a clinical side that's pretty uncomplicated and keeps a lot of confusion and speculation at bay. Buddhist psychology, modern psychology, and postmodernism all recognize the separate and independent self for the illusion that it is and are busy trying various ways of getting us to see the connectedness and interdependency of the world, but there isn't enough collective imagination for that kind of vision to catch on yet. I think this is where the genius of eastern thought is found; by creating an identity that has the imaginitive power to recognize the ecological connections that create the spiritual ones. Systems theory says the same thing. Cognition, the process of knowing, is identical with the processes of life at all levels of living systems. However an enlightened identity would be defined, it would have to include this. In my opinion, Buddhism is uniquely suited for the "Head Trip" part of the journey, but the Taoists really anchor the whole business in the physical self. In fact, getting physically grounded is about as close as yer gonna get as far as getting a separate, isolated, independent and eternal identity. They don't exist. Embrace Horse Now!

Who are the people who say this about Buddhism?

It's possible, Drew, that Thus could have unselfconsciously accepted those "left-handed encouragements" as sincere "Bravo"s! accorded by others on the path. Although I concur with you that there seem to be far more Captains in here than crewmembers. We've all been guilty of it. That being said, the following presentation of dependent co-arising by Joanna Macy is just too good to pass up. "The Buddhist vision of interdependence, presenting reality as a dynamic interaction of mutually conditioning events, posits no prime cause or unconditioned absolute to which occurrences can be traced in a linear fashion. This causal vision, known as paticca samuppada, or dependent co-arising, underlies the Buddhist perception of the human predicament and of the liberation that is possible. It constitutes the intellectual content of the 'Buddha's enlightenment - that part of his transforming, intuitive realizaiton that can be expressed in conceptual terms. It represents that character of reality, that truth about the universe, to which Gotama awoke. It is, therefore, accorded prarmount importance in scripture; its understanding considered requisite to release from suffering and basic to the moral and meditative practices which the Buddhist path upholds. Upon occasion it was identified with the Dharma itself, the order of things, the saving truth. 'Whoever sees paticca samuppadda sees the dharma, whoever sees the dharma sees paticca samuppadda.' It is hard to find another faith or value system where a doctrine of causality holds so explicit and so central a position." I realize that the psychological manifestations of this awareness are given the most attention in TTB, but amongst the Buddhist/general systems theory/deep ecology dialogue, it is the environmental connectivity that is accorded most attention. The beauty of Taoism is the centrality of the role of the physical body in giving us the visceral, living experience of being connection (IMHO).

In the absence of absolute control over one's personal atmospheric conditions, I would consider a negative ion generator. There's a bunch of literature on the lack of neg. ions in contemporary environments. The prevalance of positive ions makes causes a "heaviness" that weighs down on your own electromagnetism (chi flow). When it rained in LA last week for the first time in months, the neg. ion effect of post-rainfall was like a chi booster. I'd like to buy a generator soon, one just big enough for the bedroom.

"Qi is the food of the soul." Well said. Your warning about always using "big wind" is very important. I used it too much in the beginning, a side effect of breathing exercises learned from trumpet playing, and got very hot. I could feel my chi flow a lot easier when I was overheating. Now that I'm cooler, I just have to relax and pay attention, and become as sensitive as possible. Thank you, TianhuaQigong, for contributing. Your English is vastly more powerful than my Chinese.

I would agree with everyone - you've got a good foundation. The only suggestion I would make is to supplement your studies with a couple of titles that address dependent origination from a western perspective. The Dharma of Natural Systems: Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory by Joanna Macy. Cool title, eh? Once we discover that the Paticca Samupadda, the doctrine of dependent origination, is a doctrine that is utterly consistent with ecology and general systems theory, we discover the element of the real world that supports our awakening. http://www.amazon.com/Mutual-Causality-Bud...4417&sr=1-1 Fritjof Capra's 25th anniversary edition of his masterpiece "The Tao of Physics" also includes his update regarding the essential consistency of eastern thought and ecology as well. We are all connected, even to inanimate processes like the rock cycle and the water cycle. Once we acquire a deep awareness of our connectedness and participation in Indra's Web, our identity becomes extremely stable, insofar as an ecosystem brimming with biodiversity is stronger and more stable than an ecosystem that has suffered a blow to its biodiversity. I realize this is tangential to what you have introduced (we always are) but I have yet to discover a lucid discussion about the ecological and environmental consequences of eastern thought, particularly Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. We are so self-absorbed in here about how powerful and wise we are becoming, rather than acknowleging the reality and implications of our essential unity. We live one life.