Cyril

I second this, especially if you look into some of the older threads and the personal practice threads of some of the more prominent members of the forum, they can be really insightful and quite useful in developing your own practices.

And besides! Having that partner there with you just makes it all the better because you have that crucial exchange of Zinc ions between you and your partner which is scientifically proven to be beneficial to both parties.

Hello and Welcome

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Hello hello!

Light use of 3g networks probably doesn't harm you all that much. However I do notice that with prolonged use and exposure, I do get more frequent headaches and other odd things which happen health wise. So as long as you're not a heavy user of 3g networks, I don't think it should be much of a problem. When I was younger (in high school) I remember when old CDMA phones would give me odd headaches because I was not accustomed to the cellular radio signals.

.... so .... all of this banter and discussion when the main point of this thread was to basically state something that's been said many times about living life, "Just be." Way to go reinventing the wheel that's already been discovered, built, and studied countless numbers of times in all kinds of contexts. While I'm not saying that someone is not entitled to having their own realization moments, this is probably one of those that should go in one's own repretoire rather than something used to provoke reaction by others in the world.

This is a pretty good point that you bring up. However its all true unless you live near areas which are basically a sink or a drain for your energy (i.e. Cemeteries, Graveyards, etc) that can barely be helped by practicing Qigong, even if you're really far along in cultivation.

Hey hey! and welcome back

Wow, these are pretty epic photos IMHO And I also think that I'm beginning to get a good understanding of what types of structures use feng shui in their design

In my studies of the subject, Feng shui is relatively reliable in terms of the benefits that are observed and gained through its application in day to day settings. Though I have also seen that Feng Shui has an interesting similarity to Vastu Shastra, which is an Indian method of removing obstructions to energy and harmonizing one's surrounding environment. Feng Shui seems to me more fluid and applicable to scenarios which are fluid and changing constantly, whie Vastu seems to be for environments that are more clear cut and succinctly defined. So while I would say that Feng Shui is certainly Taoist in its setup and in its practices, I wouldn't necessarily say that Feng Shui grew out of Taoism as a branch per se. But in any case, I have seen multiple instances in which feng shui (when applied properly) has helped the person(s) who took the initiative to apply feng shui to their spaces Also I think it would be great if anyone here knows about the use of Feng Shui in China today for urban planning and building as well, as I am not well versed in the subject. It would seem that the older style of architecture was more permitting of feng shui concepts than newer, more western inspired buildings are - but that's just my two cents.

Howdy and welcome aboard, I started out working with Qigong using books and other resources that I found useful through libraries and such, so I never really ended up paying money to learn methods and techniques for cultivation practices. That said once I found resources that I really liked, I ended up buying the books I found useful as a signature of support for the authors and masters who worked on those resources.

Welcome! and enjoy your stay

Whether or not the degree of benefits are great or small, I would say that if doing the forms don't necessarily bother you or mess up any work and progress that you have done already, then there is no harm in continuing to do Qigong forms for an extended period of time. Just my two pence.

Hi there, This forum really is an interesting place to learn and hang out with other people with spiritual and cultivation interests Have fun!

In my wanderings, chanting mantras or visualizing colors work to a certain extent, but they don't really work to fully give you the full experience of having opened each chakra. By using a one-pointed meditation technique to quiet your mind and to reduce one's sensitivity to external stimuli that might otherwise distract you, you can move forward to working on awareness of each chakra. Knowing the approximate physical locations of these chakras is important in bringing your awareness there at first, but as you move along you won't even have to make yourself bring the awareness there, it will happen automagically Also, make sure you go from the Root chakra (1st) up to the crown chakra (7th) in that order, one by one, making sure you have fully opened each one before you move on to trying to open the next one in subsequent steps. So if you were success in opening the 1st and 2nd chakras, you would move up to opening the 3rd chakra, with the 1st and 2nd being open by way of your bringing awareness at that time to your 3rd chakra. Not being methodical and persistent about it could end up making strange imbalances that are not particularly fun to deal with after the fact. Hopefully some of this at least made some sense

Just curious , but what about bananas? Where would it fit into the food list?

Personally, I am not a very big fan of java applets for security reasons, which is why I tend to prefer means of live chat that don't involve having to use a browser based chat client. On that note, I would be interested in an IRC chat live chat functionality for the Tao Bums seeing that I already am quite a fluent user of IRC in terms of my interest in open source projects and whatnot.

Well well, we have a ninja in our midst. I suppose I'll have to keep an eye and an ear out for you ;-) Welcome and enjoy your time here

I can relate in a similar way in that I have run across various situations in which other people have told me about what lucid dreaming is and what exactly happens, et cetera, however I don't actually have real lucid dreams per se. My run in with lucid dreaming is roughly the same in experience as yours. Anyways, I just thought its interesting that I'm not the only person who has encountered such experiences in their (well, supposed anyway ) sleep.

Agreed, the OP link is bogus don't go here

It is good that you have noticed and realized this feeling! I can also relate to you in that I have had this same kind of feeling come to me when I am merely sitting or lying down, without actively doing or thinking anything. In other words, do not be worried by it, but just come to let it be when it happens again and you will be more at ease about it in general.

I have also heard pretty much the same sort of story with someone pretty much ending up being subservient to their masters like that. On the main topic though, I also have to agree that spending quality time with solitary meditation is probably the best bet for this kind of thing. I mean sure, there are probably other ways that might get you there, but in the long run meditation seems to be the most reliable route to take.