Thunder_Gooch

Surely your opinion of him has nothing to do with the fact he plugs you in every one of his posts. I am still curious if your tummo system is based off naropa's system or the new reiki tummo system.

care to explain?

Dorian, I'd say it's safe to assume any teacher who refuses such a question hasn't attained any real abilities. I'd also say any teacher who claims to have abilities and doesn't submit to the rigors of a thorough scientific investigation is a fraud.

- Jed McKenna - 'Spiritual Enlightenment:The Damnedest Thing' mjj, money talks and bullshit walks

mjj, For all your years of searching and training what exactly do you have to show for it, besides meeting people and traveling? I am also curious about this. Have you developed any abilities? I notice you teach both reiki and tummo. Is your tummo system based of what they call "reiki tummo"?

mjj, get over yourself. we don't care about you nearly as much as you think we do. afaik you have nothing to show for all your years of "advanced" training.

It's third eye breathing basically. Even if max's practices are legit though, he isn't.

Prince, In all honesty your the first Christian I've ever met that sounds like a Christian. I mean that as a compliment. I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Mohandas Gandhi

Hello Bums, This afternoon I am in a better mood, after much contemplation I envisioned a possible solution to my problem. I would like your input, advice and idea's. Please feel free to shoot my idea down, or tell me what you think even if it is negative. In my area there are no Buddhist or Taoist temples for a 100 mile radius. So here is my game plan. Run newspaper ads in all the local papers for all the neighboring counties for a taoist/buddhist/qigong/meditation meetup and discussion group. I plan on having us meet every other Sunday at my counties community center, maybe even creating a group on meetup.com I am sure that it would attract a large number of people as it would cover at least 4-5 counties. If all goes well, and I can attract a large following then perhaps we can start placing donation cups at all the local gas stations, and doing fund raisers. Local churches and forming churches use the same methods to pay for their expenses. I am thinking I could form some sort of nonprofit org and keep all the funds raised in a savings account. Eventually I am sure we would have enough money to buy land and build a temple. I am not sure if it would be legal to have the land in my name or not, but if so then I would be guaranteed a home, and a livelyhood for the rest of my life. Even if this may take many years, it would still be faster than me working alone full time to afford a land and build a home.

I spoke with an attorney this afternoon regarding this idea. I was advised it would be a huge liability, and due to the super Christian conservative population in my area I would probably be looking at constant vandalism, and harassment. I guess he is probably right. It was an interesting thought however.

Couldn't do it. I really don't like the thought of being a jiggalo. Thanks for the advice however.

Well if I form a group and get them involved in fund raisers once a month or every two months or get them to help me place donation cans at gas stations and other businesses all to get a center built, I don't see how this is being lazy on my part. You may call me lazy for only wanting to work 2 days a week and spend the rest of my time meditating. But the path to that goal is going to be a lot of hard work. I don't see this as conning anyone out of money as long as everything is handled legitimately and legally. I plan on seeing a property lawyer about this next week. As long as I offer weekly services to the public, and I really work hard at making it worth their time, I don't see any of this as unethical. Who knows this idea may not work out, I may not be able to attract a large enough number of people to make it happen. In which case I either come up with a better idea, or someone else here does, or I continue working until I can afford my own property and home.

My end goal of meditating all day would be realized faster if I had help, why is this a bad thing? I can see a large range things I could do to make a legitimate living. Selling books, incense, and tea. Accepted donated possessions for an ebay thrift store. Offering qigong classes. Most likely I would still need to work 2 days a week to cover my personal expenses but I find this acceptable. Why do you think I have no clue in buddhist and taoist philosophy? I may be an asshole, but I don't think I am ignorant.

I am celibate and have been for a few years, I don't get along well with other people. If I need sex bad enough I'll drive to Nevada and pay for it. Next up, I work full time at the moment. I bring home about $1500 a month of which about half is usually saved. In my bank account right now I have $900.00 I buy gold coins and keep them in my safe deposit box, as of today I own over 8 ounces of gold, in a few more months I will own over $10,000.00 in gold coins assuming prices do not fluctuate wildly. When I get home I am required to do my chores, cook some food and socialize a bit, then I head off to meditate a few hours before I sleep, and then I wake up and repeat this process. I don't plan on wasting peoples time. I believe I can offer a great service to people in my community and neighboring communities. I believe it would be a symbiotic relationship, and not parasitic as you imagine. I plan on working until I have enough to buy land and build a house which is going to be a long long time. Having volunteers help me with fundraisers and donations etc would drastically speed up this process. Of course the catch would be I would have to run a legitimate service to the community at least once a week. I fail to see what your issue with this is. Most likely unless I brought in enough money from qigong classes I would still have to work a job 2 days a week after the land purchased and the building built, and every other detail taken care of.

Thanks. Also perhaps I could get certified in some simple qigong system like spring forest and offer classes a few days a week, if the center ever gets built

I do not believe in all the Taoist and Buddhist rituals and superstitions, so in a religious sense I am neither. Philosophically however I guess I would be both. I don't see any inherent contradictions in the two philosophies.

I've been this way now for more than 10 years. I've always been a hermit, and that isn't likely to change any time soon. I enjoy life best when I have lots of free time alone. Time to read, meditate and relax, and keep my house clean. Ah, sounds like heaven.

All belong to a different taoist school, not all are religiously taoist however. Also I am sure all of my teachers have been discussed in length here on TTB, and other forums. I am just not allowed to discuss my training in the systems. -mpg

Wenwu, Define your goal for your practice. Search for teachers who have accomplished your goal, and listen only to them. If you want to learn how to be a mechanic you wouldn't become an apprentice to an electrician. The same applies to spiritual pursuits. Most teachers like Max the kunlun guy are just newage douchebags who are in the business only to take your money. Be careful who's teachings you buy into. Try to find teachers who have actually accomplished something, besides certificates on their walls.

Check If there is no such cycle that would imply either an atheist world view of oblivion after death, or a theistic world view of an eternal afterlife as a spirit. Either of these scenarios is acceptable. We can only do our best, I'll do my best and thats all I can do. I didn't come here for any spiritual advice, I came here to ask real world advice, on changing my lifestyle.

I don't believe I said neigong was the only validated system, only that I had only seen a few systems validated. Tummo is a validated practice, more so than neigong even. You have to admit that most of this information on the market is just newage bullshit, written by space cadets and charlatans to turn a buck. If you want to learn any discipline in this life, you start by studying the techniques of masters of that discipline. I want to achieve liberation, so I seek masters who are they themselves liberated and can prove such. Seems reasonable to me, if you find a flaw in my logic please point it out.

I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences of masters in china and what schools they belonged to.

My goal is stopping the death and rebirth cycle. I am motivated by dissatisfaction. I have a strong physical frame, physically fit aerobically. I have no physical health issues. I cannot sit in full lotus, only half lotus. I have stopped training my legs and stretch daily before meditation for a few minutes, hopefully withing a few years sitting in full lotus will be possible. I have a mental issue, but have an otherwise sound mind. I have recurring hypnagogic hallucinations of being paralyzed and having cold hands reach into my dantein, this is a common occurrence nightly usually. I have not decided if it is a recurring observation or a hallucination, in either case it seems mostly harmless and unavoidable. I am not willing to consider medication for this issue. I have three masters at the moment. I can't discuss this issue more however. This newage hippy spiritual scene is filled mostly with charlatans who literally just make shit up and deem themselves masters to sell books, and courses. Kunlun being a prime example. If you have any recommendations on any other schools or systems I am willing to listen, if you feel they are valid. I'd like to know their success rates also. For example if lineage promises liberation, how many students have achieved liberation? Are they themselves liberated? Do they have any evidence to support such claims?