VCraigP

A principle which I have found to be very important in my cultivation is: Heng makes Tong (sorry, not sure if proper Pinyin) Sacrifice makes connection. Sacrifice - energy, effort, lifeforce, offering. Connection - become closer to, enable interaction or communication of a sort. Every time I do practice I close with an offer of thanks and gratitude to the ancestors, lineage carriers both known and unknown. I believe this forges a long lasting connection. Craig

Should I go back and rename this thread FACE READING FOR PEOPLE who don't want to leave Craig's thread alone? No worries. We all know how threads evolve, dissolve and transform. I just had felt the urge to transmit a little piece of what I have learned before going to another retreat with my teacher. Just got back last night. Maybe I will have something else to say here to expand on my starting point. PS - Anyone brave enough to post a pic of their own face for general amateur and/or expert analysis? (NOT ME!) With Love Qi Craig

while acknowledge the "traditional" color associations of blue/black with kidneys I have received a related tradition. Taomeow's comment "but it is also the color of water in a layer not thick enough to manifest color, which is mysterious indeed." encompasses some of this. Kidneys are also related to the north. North related to pole star and heavens. heavens contain heavenly 3 treasures sun/moon/stars. North pole also has northern lights. Kidneys represent water and that which is hidden. all this and more is summed up by "mystical" qi so called color. It is blue / black, like the night sky, but within there is more hidden there. that is part of my understanding. Craig

Dont feed the trolls.

There has been a lot of talk about "Alchemy" I have been a student of Healing Dao Methodology since mid 80's. More recently have been a student of Master Zhongxian Wu. The post is a quick summary of a method for morning practice which takes in the new and releases the old. There are MANY similarities of Shape and Technique between HT system and Master Wu's system. This method vaguely described here is much like 6 healing sounds of HT. However, certain aspects of it are like Fusion. Especially important and powerful for me is bringing in the energy from the 4(5) directions at the initial stage of practice. Major difference from 6 sounds from HT is using hand mudras for each of the 5 directions. Results for me are much like fusion, but without much specific procedure like in HT initial training. It has been nice for me in that my HT training laid some groundwork which allows me to recognize certain dynamics more easily and also has laid some grooves which can be worn deeper using a method from another school. So I just felt like sharing. Craig

Hey there. Where do you get your information about Ephedra being legal? I am pretty sure you are mistaken. Care to elaborate? Craig

Wow Wayfarer 64 aside there seems to be a lot of self loathing here. Come on people. I practice Taoist arts and I can go for as long as I want to. Got a problem with that? You do, well it's your F...in problem, not mine. "Dont turn into a crazy hippy" Oh...excuse me. I wasn't quite clear that you were a close minded red neck a...hole! WTF? Serene Blue, you don't have to have a Taoist BF, but one who respects you isn't too much to ask. I am truly sickened by the fact that Hippy has become a perjorative in our culture. Arrrggghh. Just say No to intolerance. bye bye Craig

SSTINstitute Good luck in expanding your art to whoever comes with a sincere heart. M.D. aka 5Element Tao - Things have been chaotic and I hope we can still get together over a weekend this summer. I hope your lack of participation here on TTB reflects your busy-ness with teaching. Craig (the other one, not PortCraig :-)

Hi You have done a good job of outlining the material taught by David. What is your Experience as a student of this material? What has been the results for you? What do you expect to achieve by further practice and study with Mr Verdesi? Sincerely Craig

Omei ? Where is Omei. Not Emei or Ermei? Good luck on your venture. Craig

Hi all. Some months ago I engaged in a conversation about Q-Link, which is purported to be a protection against chaotic EMF radiation. I have some misgivings about the product. Can anyone suggest their best choice for EMF pollution protection. I am most interested in personal devices you can wear and / or carry. I know about and have Orgonite - though I may well be getting more soon. Thanks in advance for any advice. Craig

For what it's worth. My teacher Master Zhongxian Wu has just published his first book on the I Ching. Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change: 8 Days to Mastering a Shamanic Yijing (I Ching) Prediction System http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Spirit-Book-...6197&sr=1-1 In this book Master Wu presents in book format what I learned in my first weeklong retreat with him. You will learn about the 8 Trigrams and how to use them for Divination alone without reference to the 64 Hexagrams. Also included are the 8 moves of the "mother form" of the Wudang He Style Taiji form. Each 8 moves embodies one of the 8 forces of the bagua - Heaven, EArth, Fire, Water, Mountain, Lake, Thunder, Wind. By learning about the 8 forces one can begin to see their activity and make a connection between the abstract understanding of the forces and how they enter into our life. By this perception coming to understand how they communicate to us when making an inquiry. This approach to divination with the I Ching is quite different in my experience. I have seen Master Wu make profound connections to questions using this method, and several interesting examples are given in the book. It is written in a seemingly casual style, but as with his previous book on Shamanic Tiger Qi Gong it is multifaceted and you can dig into the manner layers of the presentation. I think it is a great addittion to any Yijing scholar/student's collection if for nothing else than presenting a very unique perspective to Yijing study. Craig Sorry for the commercial, I usually try to refrain. Please try to see it as just a sincere wish to share some of what I have gained through my study with this man.

Hi My name is VCraigP and I am a Taobums addict. Although, over the years I have learned many things, have discovered new ideas and new websites galore. On balance, of late, I find that TTB has not offered me much. The sifting for gold in the sands drifting in the river of TTB seems to yield less and less for me. Also, I don't contribute very much. Maybe my lack of participation is directly related to not getting anything back. Still, there are occasional contributions from people I feel I know and definitely respect which resonate with me and provide me with an occasional sense of freshness, insight and peace. Shifting away from this and other addictions would be a good thing for me now. Not saying I'm leaving and never coming back though. I'm not into that kind of drama. Craig

OK, well that particular information definitely stuck with me so I suppose I am pleased that it also resonated with someone else. The comment was related to Qi healing. My question to him was something like "Are there any steps we need to take to protect ourselves from negative energy when doing healing? Some schools teach about grounding energy, or other techniques to protect oneself. Do you advise any such?" His response was very clear and somewhat forceful "NO. You don't need to protect yourself from negative energy. As soon as you think like that your spirit is already gone." My interpretation of this was that if you are worried about stuff you already have lost the spirit, the attitude, the energy connection which enables one to do the Qi healing in the first place. Master Wu is very explicit in the practice of Qi healing that we should make a connection to him and to the lineage Qi field to empower us, and probably to protect us as well. Perhaps if one has thoughts of doubt and danger that connection would be broken. This attitude, though acknowledged by some as positive in the original thread was still met with a great deal of skepticism and further advice on HOW to protect oneself in the case of Qi healing practice. As for myself, I don't have experience enough to say either way. I have had really positive experiences both giving and receiving Qi healing with fellow students, but I have almost no experience working on people with more chaotic energy or in less favorable environments. Master Wu's approach is very basic and down to earth. Just do it. Make the connection. Do more cultivation and you will be fine. Also I tend more and more to emulate his approach to commenting on practices. He basically will only teach that which he has deep experience of. If asked about something pertaining to another teacher or practice he will usually respond "I don't know about that, this is what I do, that's what I can tell you about from my experience. If I haven't experienced it I will not talk about it." Who knows if I have other wisdom to offer, but happy to field a question about a previous comment. Craig

Ok, what I meant was I don't contribute that OFTEN. Didn't mean to sound so self denigrating. Now at 317 posts since TTB began, not particularly verbose. Please ask for clarification if I leave you scratching your head, unless that was the intended effect and you enjoyed it :-) Craig

In on particular order, except for SEAN who has to be the top tao bum of all time. such a bum that he never posts anything substantive here anymore. We love you man. Mostly I want to get my votes in so Stig has to re tally. SEAN Who apparently is not here anymore, except for "one more personal attack and you are out" which comment to someone else (GIH?)really surprised me the other day. I wish I was in Costa Rica eating mangos. Thanks for making all this nonsense possible. ON balance, probably improved your Karma, a bit. Drew Hempel Who I descriped to my friend Patrick as "Insane I think...but in a good way." Pietro Who obviously has good taste in Tao Bums. How can I not vote for someone who voted for me. Taomeow One of three living Taobums who I have met in person (to my knowledge). I still don't know what it is and I have stopped caring. Song Yong Dao (sorry, can never remember how to spell your nome de plume) Distant brother of Taiji lineage still longing for Portland at times who studies at the side of a true master, rock on! Love to walk Huashan with you again some day. Rain So often cryptic, sometimes harsh. Still pursuing the TKD while others drop it for more internal pursuits. I suspect she has a really good teacher. Smile Who seemed to gradually take on his real persona since coming to TTB. I have read you for a long time. Please stop trying to scare the hell out of me! (sticking head back in to the sand now). Thanks for all the links. Probably have pursued more things on the web on your suggestion than any other here. Cat - Whoops, I forgot, we had met in person once. Somewhere near Tulum? You remembered me somehow, well done. Ian - Who is the problem, Ian is the problem. Mat Black Who is brave enough to show his real face, and seems to have gone deep... Also infrequent poster but consistently shows up, now and then. Mal Who apparently will never changes his avatar. Even though his single whip really annoys me - Just kidding, but really can you lower that hand down about a foot. Whoops, going back to my tag line "think not that all wisdom is in your school" Karen Bringer of Homeopathic wisdom, and other wisdom as well. Heilkunst uber alles!! Others... Plato - who was really never here in spirit I feel. Not afraid to be his own brand of crazy Vajrasattva - A lot of knowledge and wisdom in a young...ish man. Thanks for the instruction, cant say I've done it much justice as of yet, but in time. TRUNK - Healing Tao apologist and system repair technician. Remember when? "I'm taking Alchemical Taoism down because of the karmic burden..." (badly paraphrased of course). Forum acquaintance since before TTB existed. Lin Ai Wei - Buddhist and martial artist with confidence of his perspective. Dao Zhen - Obviously well steeped in current Tao practice at the source. Advice to all. READ ALL HIS POSTS. Hagar - Dont step out on my account. You're another long timer with value to add from time to time. YODA - Probably wont be reading this here. Great leveller and voice of calm, left here some weeks ago. Will be missed. Will he return? I guess yes. YMWong - Just for having a tag which sounds like "I am wrong". Often he is not. VCraigP - Still struggling with my relationship to TTB and deeply grateful for knowledge and guidance I have received. Also learned how to witness my reactions to written words I strongly disagree with or have distaste for. Good lessons all. Still here. With sincere gratitude. Craig

it wasnt a big paragraph but included in my original text I said, "Also, I don't contribute very much. Maybe my lack of participation is directly related to not getting anything back." Whereby I inferred, perhaps too indirectly, the question you posed. What do I have to offer to this community? I am still mulling that over, it is important for each of us to ask that question. Thanks Craig I had no idea how vague I can be. But actually I meant to be. Not leaving, just....

Summer has arrived early this year. We are already having late june/july weather for almost two weeks here in May. It balances out the Blizzard we had this last Winter. Cultivation of the 5 directions in practice has grounded me here like never before. It took many years after leaving the Bay Area (California for you foreigners) to feel rooted in this new landscape. Saying hello for you P! Craig PS- You are one of the people whose voice I look for when I come to this place. Maybe we'll see you in 2010 if Wu takes us to Xian.

Thanks Brother. Definitely the same form. Definitely being performed by someone with a high level of Taiji experience. Good solidity and structure IMO. He should do a DVD so people can really get his style. May well have to acquire this book. Thanks Craig

Hey Scotty. Thanks for the update. Does the book go over the form in sufficient detail to be able to practice? Have you seen or learned Winn's version? thanks Craig

Not surprising you strike me as a bit of a Spock, but is she black and HOT!!! sorry...got carried away. Wasn't it interesting to see a sexual side of Mr Pointy ears? The 1/2 human aspect is played up more I think. I both like and dislike how the prequel became a road into a completely other timeline. I thought they would sort it out by the end, but now I realize they can do anything they want. If they want to make more movies, or another TV show, they have NO limitations. I loved the flashes of the characters personality as remembered from the original series - YES I am 45 years old!! I watched the film with my Father in law who is 66, my good friend who is 21 and my son who is 10. WE ALL LOVED IT! Nothing wrong with mindless entertainment from time to time...dont take everything so seriously little 1. It was not emotionally,mentally or otherwise enriching. It was a SPECTACLE. Craig Oh you totally missed a chance. You should have said.... Fascinating!

Stig Arent some of those listed above subsets of Complete Reality - Quanzhen? My teacher has Longmen Pai background among others and he indicated Longmen Pai is part of Complete Reality school, if I remember correctly. I guess all of the 5 sacred mountains have associated schools. My teacher also has Emei school qigong which he teaches, e.g. Emei Shengong. So you mentioned Huashan, Wudang Shan, Lin Mentioned TaiShan I mention Emei, which Mountain are we missing? And are all these seperate schools or sub sects of Quanzhen or others? Just curious. Also, to answer the subject question "What Taoism do you practice". I would say none. I currently study Taoist based practices from an advanced lay practitioner. In other words my teacher is not a Taoist priest or monk. He is an advanced Practitioner of multiple Chinese Wisdom Traditions, which encompasses numerous arts. I study what I can from him and build on what I learned from other even less orthodox sources. I do Taiji. Does that make me a practitioner of Taoism? I study Yijing. Does that make me a practitioner of Taoism? I practice meditation based upon Taoist principles - to the best of my knowledge. Does that make me a practitioner of Taoism? I am pretty sure that Mak Tin Si and also Y M Wong would argue that none of these makes me a practitioner of Taoism, or a Taoist. I am a westerner trying my best to incorporate these practices of the integral way into my path. I have had some guides who have walked some small distance with me before parting ways. Some with whom I still interact. I practice the Tao which cannot be named, especially not Quanzhen or Zhenyi or the others Stig mentions. I have some small knowledge which probably derives from these sources and others, but that doesn't make me a practitioner of them. If I wanted to label myself in such a way I don't think it would be accurate. My teacher who is FAR beyond me in knowledge, skill and most importantly experience would probably not identify himself exclusively as a Taoist practitioner either. I think I can only claim to be a westerner seeking knowledge and experience of a wisdom tradition which has attracted me inexorably to it. Craig