taiji_phoenix

Ge Hong's To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth is a good one I think. Aside from some short hagiographies of various immortals, it also contains some information on dietetics,sexual arts and various alchemy practices. Another one that I am reading now, not so much about immortals as it is about alchemists and mystics is called Alchemists, Mediums and Magicians: Stories of Taoist Mystics. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Although I must say that this one reads on the boring side, it contains some useful information about other texts that I had not previously heard of. Taijiphoenix

In taoism as a "religion" their is a hell. When I was in china I went to the Dongyue temple in beijing. Very interesting place. It is dedicated to the god of mount taishan. The temple has all these statues that represent the various departments of Hell. From what I remember, the differnt departments are for various wrong doings or crimes commited while you were alive. Looking at the wiki site, the 18 layers or departments,I would say it corresponds to what I saw at the temple. Also in the Fengdao Kejie or the 'daoist monastic manual' their is a chapter on retribution of sins where it describes the 18 realms of darkness. Here is a link to the book. I think you can read the whole thing online. https://www.questia-online-library.com/read...t%20Terminology Here are some of my pictures from the Dongyue temple. Can't figure out how to post the pics here. Here is my flicr link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/taijiphoenix Taiji phoenix

I totally understand. I go through the same thing almost every day, and I work at a library. I have the crazy lady, the redneck, people who argue over 10 cents, people who think I know every thing about everything and get mad when I don't, ect. Sometimes I do get so angry that I want to hurt someone. I just go home and beat on my punching bag. I thought that I left all this stuff behind when I left retail!!! But I have come to realize that people are people, and that is the way they are. It gives me some practice on being compassionate (I really do try). Taiji phoenix

Everything that I read about wudang mountain says that it is the birth place of taoism or something similar. But I have read lots of books on taoism and none of them seem to even mention wudang mountain and if they do it is very briefly. Am I missing something? I am really confused about this. Taiji phoenix

Thank you for the info, white rabbit. taiji phoenix

Death, life, celebrates rejoice my little one, hear the blue bird that sings

I did a search on google for chi blockage and energy, the only think I could find was the benifits of tai chi. Usually what causes the stiffness (imho) is inabillity to relax. If you can relax the muscle you will be able to stretch deeper. When my taiji teacher wants us to relax he starts to hit us in the area with tension, not hard but not to light either. From my understanding, when you tense up you are blocking qi flow and the hitting serves to release it. Maybe someone else can help with the energetics. I can help with stretching exercises if you would like. Taiji phoenix

I do periodic fasts, mainly for health purposes. I once did an apple fast for about 7 days, I only ate 3 apples a day and was never hungry. Right now I am trying to elimanate grains from my diet and let me tell you I am having one hell of a time. I am so addicted to bread it's not even funny. I do feel better physically though. taiji phoenix

I have been studying the differnt legends about taoist immortals and have noticed a lot of similarity betwwen the immortals and the jesus story. Alot of the legends speak about special powers that immortals have such as walking on water, turning water in to wine, flying and so on. Also it appears that when most of the immortals finally trancend to heaven their bodies dissapear put they leave behind something, like clothes or shoes and what not. I would like to know what your opinion is on the similarites. Taiji phoenix

I like your opinion! I had never really thought about it that way but it makes sense. taiji phoenix

I will check thoese out NeutralWire.

Here is what I do for heartburn: I think it is peice number 5 from the eight pieces of brocade (sway the head and swing the tail to remove the heart fire). You squat down in horse stance, put your hands on your thieghs close to your knees with the thumbs pointing to the outside, push down lightly on one theighs and you turn your body and head to look in the oppisite direction . Hold for a couple seconds. breath out as you do this, then switch sides. You may have to do it a couple times for it to start to work. when you turn you want to have the head, spine and leg to line up. I hope that was clear I tried to find a picture but couldn't. This works for me everytime. Taiji phoenix

I have been studying to-shi-do (stephen hayes version of ninjutsu) for about 6 or 7 years, can't remeber, and chen style taiji for about 4 years. I think that martial arts was the inital spark that lead me to explore eastern philosophy. Taiji phoenix

Hello I have been reading this forum for quite sometime, and I also find the topics very thought provoking. I am looking forward to participating. I have been interested in daoism for a very long time. I just find the philosophy fasinating. Taiji_phoenix

Dr. Yang jwing ming's book on the 8 pieces of brocade is a good one to start with. It has clear picture and good discriptions, he also has a video that gos along with it. It is a very good beginer qigong set. taiji phoenix