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Yeah, I like Tao in a Bottle, but any good quality Theanine, even just straight Theanine will do the trick. Psychoactive is not accurate. It does promote relaxation, calmness though, and very effectively. Source Naturals is a good company. I like NOW foods. They have a Theanine and green tea product which is effective and a good value. That's my recommendation if you are looking for the best priced item that works. I recommend Dragonherbs because of my experience of their quality and from what I know about the quality control and sourcing work they do. Not all herbs are created equal. Also, the terms 8:1 , 4:1 etc are almost next to meaningless. They do not refer to a standard of any kind, not only that but there is no regulation about what constitutes an 8:1 or 4:1 or whatever ratio. It depends on the manufacturing process. When you can it is best to go with liquid extracts. In my case, making comparison between Dragonherbs liquid extracts and other companies with individual extracts that I am familiar with I have to say my experience was that Dragonherbs were far superior to most other manufacturers out there. This coupled with my subjective experience of their effect on my system led me to conclude that they are among the best products out there. Still, there are more good companies out there. thanks for the recommendations. Craig

1. daooooh. expletive used by homer simpson, actually pronounced Tao. 2. Tao 3. Huh? exclamation used by those reaching sudden enlightenment without knowing it. 4. WTF? Another exclamation used by those using Kan and Li method who are contemplating the koan of the merging of male and female energy. 5. wuji wuji koo. Sound used by adults to interact with children/infants who are actually much closer to the Tao and therefore know what this phrase really means. Craig

By the way Cameron. When I was taking a lot of tonic and stimulating herbs more than a year ago I consulted with someone there at Dragonherbs and he recommended Bupleurum & Dragonbone formula. Very good for cooling your jets and balancing out heat. Perhaps you could try that one? Anyway, you can call for a consultation/recommendation by and actual herbalist/TCM Doctor. Check it out. Craig

I second this advice. If you are going to take the western approach to supplements and select herbs one at a time to take you would be better off with American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium). Might I suggest another great tonic which is not overly yang promoting - Siberian Ginseng (eleutherococcus senticosus). This is not a true ginseng, but it is a great tonic. I STRONGLY suggest that you not buy Siberian ginseng extract as it is not good quality at all. Get a straight powder. This herb is a great adaptogen which can provide quality energy without taxing the system as Panax ginseng can do. Beyond that I suggest you investigate more balanced approaches to herbal supplementation. My favorite company who has proven quality and good balanced formulae is DragonHerbs (dragonherbs.com) No, I am not at all affiliated with this company. But People who have been here long enough know that I always recommend them. Anyway, Siberian Ginseng, eleutherococcus senticosus is a great single herb which I believe would give little to no risk of unbalancing anyone's system. Craig

I have an idea. Why don't you go take a class and tell us what your experience is? go for it. does your intuition tell you your encounter with this flyer should bring you to check it out? if so , go. If not.... PS - golden sheild sounds like golden bell which is another name for shaolin iron body training. just my bit of info. Craig

I have had more than one teacher who responded to this question the same way. Practice whenever you can. when is a good time to practice? whenever you are able! I think most of us not living as a monk can relate to that attitude. Maybe serious householders can take that attitude of Practice whenever you are not doing anything more important (doing dishes, changing diapers, earning money...). When is a good time to practice? right now...bye Craig

Little 1 I have been studying with Mantak Chia personally in seminar and at retreats since 1986. I have studied directly with Michael Winn. I am intimately familiar with HT practices and am a certified instructor in HT, though I do not teach. I do not think you have understood the context of my comments. I have been a member of this online community sense it's inception (more or less) and have paid attention to the dialog on this board and Healing Tao USA board's discussion before that. Sean Omlor started The Tao Bums after lengthy involvement on HTUSA discussion forum. I believe the HTUSA forum was around since 1998? or so (someone help me with my history here). The conversation over the wisdom of the teaching of sexual kung fu has gone on throughout that period and in great detail and great length. There have been many anecdotal reports of people who had problems using these methods. I believe I have not had any of these problems, in fact I believe I have had good success in working with the techniques as presented initially by Master Chia. However I also agree with certain opinions which have been brought forward that acknowledgte the dangers of working with this energy, especially if you are only learning from a book. I also think that the sexual practices are a side path and quite possibly a distraction from the core curriculum of the 7 formulae of inner alchemy. As with Iron shirt chi kung the earliest material of Master Chia did require some refinement over the years to achieve a more balanced system. I know Michael Winn has very much modified how he teaches Iron shirt chikung and sexual kung fu when compared with how it was presented in the original books. I am not really interested in discussing the merits of Mantak Chias sexual kung fu, though I do think that on balance you would be much better off studying M.Chia's methods then the cursory "advice" presented in about 250 words in the Pillars of Bliss book. I am not a detractor of Mantak Chia, Michael Winn, Healing Tao, Universal Tao. I am not really a current practitioner of those methods either, except that certain elements have probably been permanently absorbed and integrated into my life. My question is really addressed to those who have read PofB in order to get their opinion. Mantra has indicated he is re-writing the book in question. I would like to reiterate my suggestion that unless sexual practice is addressed thoroughly and seriously that it may be a better decision to leave it out. (or maybe publish some of Trunk's material instead)

I heard a similar story from what I consider a creditable source. A "monk" or "monks" from Wudang approached a master asking for instruction in a MA form which lineage is purported to derive from Wudang. Maybe there is some honest attempt to gather knowledge back to Wudang as well, but it is very easy to believe what is easily found there is no longer the full and authentic tradition. From what I saw in Tibet a few years ago, the situation in temple/monestary there is similar. Many very young monks being allowed to carry on a "tradition". But is that tradition really still alive there? Isn't this the way it has always been though? As soon as the masses learn where to seek to find real mystery schooling, it is no longer there, but in such a way as to leave doubt as to whether it was ever really there. Never easy to find a real master. Maybe easier these days to gather some knowledge and travel a ways down the path, but never easy to carry to higher levels. As it is meant to be? Craig

Hence we see the danger of a fascinating examination of a single technique. It is out of context. Drew's explanation of the energetic dynamic is interesting and seems to explain some things, but it is just a small piece of a whole style. I would be very reluctant to explore such a single technique out of the context of the teacher and teaching from which it derives. Which is why I asked the question - are there more resources available to learn about Yan Xin's style, methods, etc. Craig

The younger the better. Gravity doesn't apply as hard Little kids bounce better.

Thanks for this Drew. Do you currently study with Yan Xin? Have you in the past? Does he teach, or is he returned to China and being kept as a national treasure? What resources are there for his material? Lectures on CD, videos? OR shall we just stay tuned for further essays? Craig

I studied what we called "Mountaineering" in high school, growing up in California (Bay Area) . During a brief period from @ 1974 - 1985 we were lucky enough to have this program available to us. Then the insurance companies came in in the mid 80's, removed everyones diving boards from their school pools and so on. When they found out the crazy s... we were up to they were like, " you're doing what? with minor high school students??? No you aint!!. And that was that. We had a "fitness jungle" we created to work on strength and balance. One of the items we had was a slack line made of wire/cord which was about 1/3 inch diameter. We had three posts about 3 feet high arranged in a triangle so there were three sections of uneven length offering varying level of slackness and angle. Two lengths of about 12-15 feet and one of about 8-10 feet as I recall. I used to spend a lot of time standing on that thing, wobbling back and forth. Eventually got really good at it. What a great tool. I recall I got good enough to do a pistol and then come back up. One of the keys to traversing the thing was to keep you focus out in front of you and not down near your feet. I recall even back then before taoist training that finding a sense of your center and projecting a line from there forward with your imagination seemed to really settle you in place, interesting. Dont know if what is shown on u-tube is harder or easier than this, but I imaging falling on the webbing line is much kinder than wire/cord. Another training note, once you get to a certain level of training with balance like this, it seems to stay with you. I can still balance on stuff like this now decades later, without continuing to train. An interesting analogy to MA training I think. Thanks for brining up this topic brought back some fond memories and also made me think about some training discoveries I made before I really began MA training and taoist training. Craig

Natto is a food. Nattokinase is an enzyme derived from Natto. I think this link has a great short and somewhat technical article on Nattokinase: http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook...attokinase.html From my recollection this product is fairly well researched and used in Japan. Don't think it will help with stiff legs unless that is due to blood clotting (unlikely). Craig

Finally.....a report of direct experience! EXPERIENCE!!!! That's what its all about. who said what about who. What M.Winn said about Max. what Max said about himself, what other folks said about what Max said about himself. All that was perhaps interesting on an intellectual level, but doesn't really go to the heart of the matter. Ultimately what matters is your ACTUAL experience. I tend to go along with the opinion that these times are not the ancient days. though we are studying ancient ways, we are not ancient chinese people. We are modern people. This world is different. We can explore multiple cultures in our lifetimes, which also tend to me much longer than common ancient people. Lineage is important and can carry power. Lineage is not everything (preparing now to duck the coming onslaught in opposition to this statement ) I currently study under a "lineage" master. But to be clear he does not teach wholly as he was taught. I am pretty sure no master in the east ever held public seminars to bring his material to anyone with the means to come. Again, modern times. Cameron. I respect your holding back what you feel appropriate to hold back. I am sure anything you can say to further elucidate your experiences on any levels would be much appreciated. Respect to you for pursuing the experience. Gratefully Craig

Not a trained OMD. But I think that fear would be linked more to the kidney system and apprehension more to the spleen system - i.e. worry. This differentiation is not my own but I remember hearing it from someone at a recent retreat. dont remember if it was the teacher or students, many of the students are also studying Oriental Medicine or are already certified OMD. Just chiming in cause I had a tidbit to offer. Craig

Good direct answer on this IMO. This is the kind of answer that is tiptoed around because people who ask this question from an ego driven desire for power won't believe it. Using enough force to be effective on someone who is not open is of course possible, but BAD for the receiver as well as the sender. People from the outside believe that it is all hypnosis because it cannot be demonstrated in this way. I had an encounter with a teacher who pushed people at a distance of about 10 feet. She explained that it was important to have your channels open or you could be hurt. In fact part of the purpose for the "pushing" was to help the student open the channels further by being pushed with energy. An analogy which works for me is Martial practice. If I am doing chin na, hand arts on someone there is some degree of cooperation when it comes to practice. If I have a partner who is giving me 110% resistance this becomes a situation where there is no cooperation and therefore no way to explore technique. I could use 115% power against the resistance, but in the case of hand arts techniques this could result in injury to the partner's limb. Same thing with the people who claim aikido throws are always done like a dance, cooperatively. In fact if one were to stiffen up like a non aikidoka in the face of an effective joint lock/throw it is likely the technique would work and the resistor would get hurt. Mantra68 isn't it also likely that attainment of this level of clarity and ability to transmit power is not compatible with the ignorant ego driven desire to use such power negatively? In other words they are mutually exclusive states? I occurs to me that Acupuncture's effectiveness was (perhaps still is in some circles) attributed to cultural hypnosis, i.e. "that stuff only works on chinese". Seems pretty funny now. Maybe in 30 years such conversations as these will be unneccesary due to wider acceptance of the supernormal. Craig

Smile It's nice that you share your explorations with us. I know time can be pressing. The article was quite thought provoking. Also interesting how some folks only focused on the DMT aspect while the article was far broader than that. Did you take in the material about de-calcification process being applied to the pineal before it would be possible to make progress? What is the special diet mentioned which accomplishes this in three months. Personally I would be much more interested in acquiring Assyrian rue than pure DMT. Sounds very interesting. So my picking on you was really intented to ask,Dude, this is weird stuff I read the article and would really appreciate knowing where you are at with this info. But to be honest, I do like picking on you. Craig

Dear WYG The chant is as follows: Kan, Li - Water, Fire Xun, Dui – Wind, Lake Kun, Gen – Earth, Mountain Zhen, Qian – Thunder, Heaven Looking at the Post Natal Bagua you find Kan and Li at the North and South positions (Remember, the Bagua compass has South at the top!). Then Xun and Tui at the East and West Positions. Then Kun and Gen at the Southwest and Northeast positions. Finally ending with Zhen and Qian at the Southeast and Northwest positions. Therefore the chant makes an up down line, then a left right line followed by two diagonal lines across the bagua. The intention is to bring in all the 8 forces into the center to be fused into one energy. Much like the fusion practice brings your internal 5 elements energies into the center for blending/balancing. Had to think about this a bit as I learned it only once back in 2000. I have since finally learned the Pinyin for the positions of the Bagua. My early I Ching training used the old spellings and has been difficult for me to adopt the “new” Pinyin. The concept is to form the bagua centered in the Navel (tantien) as in the Fusion practice and then chant: Kan Li Xun Dui Kun Gen Zhen Qian repeatedly and then focus the energies into the tantien. Don't really practice this, but I remember that the effect of the practice was noticeable at the time. I don't know where he got it and I have no "proof" that it works. How could you prove something like this anyway!!!??? FYI - I respect what the HT teachings gave me, and I recognize some of the limitations and failings of their approach. I am not currently actively practicing them and have found what I consider more authentic teachings to pursue. But chanting the I Ching Trigrams must certainly be something that many other Chinese, Taoists, or other sects have practiced over time. I Ching Trigrams have been around through a lot of history. If you have the intention to make connection, invoke the forces into your center there must be an effect to chanting on some levels. At least I can give you the order and the logic for the order. Perhaps you could work out other orders for the Bagua chanting for other intentions. I would think that to do Kan-Li practice you might want to to the same order across the Bagua but using the Pre Natal arrangement. Or maybe going from Position 8 and counting down to position 1. Hope this is helpful. Craig

Ok, smiling Max. that's a lot of mental food to digest, not to mention a whole slew of new vocabulary. What do YOU think of this? At least provide us a small comment on where your thoughts lie, since you posted this. Or are you satisfied to merely prod us with info extracted on your web wanderings and sit back to see what happens. Stone thrown into the pond...but why did the thrower lob it? With respect Craig

Karen Your comment about changing "just one thing" reminded me of a very interesting conversation I had an airplane. We were talking about nutrition in general because that's my field in a broad sense. He mentioned that he wasn't really "into" health foods, but that he had wanted to change and improve what he was putting into his body. So he did something I thought was really smart. He ADDED just one thing to his diet. He started eating Blueberries all the time. His experience was pretty remarkable considering how simple of a move this was. He said he had more energy, was able to think more clearly and just felt better in general. Now, of course this is a silly simple thing to do, but in my view really intelligent. It was a change he could easily maintain without jarring his system or causing resistance. But because of the strong nutritional value of blueberries he was able to feel a result quite rapidly. He didn't have to buy any supplements, but rather used a whole food as a supplement. Of course this is not to say that all you need is blueberries, but rather to point out how one small change could make a big difference. just another thought. - freeform - thanks for being on my wavelength dude Craig

Just wanted to put a finer point on what Karen and Witch had said. Fats, Oils are what satisfy. Fats/Oils in the stomach send signals of satiety to the brain. Without these at any particular meal will definitely leave you unsatisfied. Further, fats slow down the absorbtion of carbohydrates thus helping reduce spiking of blood sugar for a more sustained release of energy from your foods. One comment about your frustration on dietary information. There is definitely a wealth of conflicting information out there. I will not try to summarize it in this post but I have found you need to do the research yourself and be guided by your own body's instincts and feedback. this is one of the benefits of developing self knowledge and inner communication which is fostered by the various wisdom practices discussed (or not discussed as of lately) on this board. IN my opinion there are few, if any comprehensive sources of education in this field. Most people with any experience in the nutrition industry know far more than your average M.D. Finally, on a personal note I think Veganism is a modern form of insanity! It is based on a conceptual model (i.e. the MIND) driving the decisions on what the body needs. I think it is a typical mind centered approach which fails to recognize or communicate with the body to determine its needs. Veganism is not based on any historical or cultural approach to nutrition. This is my own personal bias. I have my own issues with food, and am not a vegetarian - at all. Good luck on your diet. More importantly good luck developing the dialog with your body. Craig

More linguistic trickery. offered with a smile. More fun videos? You are a master Youtube sifter! With gratitude Craig