Siliconvalley1

That seemed honest... thanks ape and good luck! As it's an instructional video, are you considering using any of the effects/graphics - like the ones Jeff Primack uses? I found them to be really helpful.

Does that have to be through the selling of DVD alone? Not that the selling is part is wrong, just asking ...

Are you suggesting that whatever is "free" or not as expensive as Wang Liping's stuff are useless or less valuable? You seemed to suggest earlier that most of the stuff available here in the West is "mechanical" and leading nowhere except for minor health benefits. So, in your opinion, Wang Liping is the only option? If not, what are the other options for someone who does not want to pay so much but wants much more than "minor" health benefits?

Hi Dainin, Thanks for sharing Is the condensed form required only for those who cannot spend enough time doing levels 1 and 2? Though this is what someone told me, that does not seem to be what Sifu Ou writes on his website. Do you notice a significant increase in energy from levels 1/2 to 3? I learnt level 1 from a senior student of Sifu Ou and non-moving through correspondence. I guess it's time to learn from Sifu directly Now that you mentioned, the concept of "crossing" of the channels makes sense, especially for the non-moving form where the visualization is kind of beyond this place of switching of channels. I noticed earlier that you practice(d) Xiang Gong. Did you practice the two forms (Xiang Gong and Pangu Shengong) together? While Sifu Ou does not seem to restrict the practitioner from practicing other forms (when I once talked to him and asked him this question, all he said was that one would not feel the need for other practices), Tian Ruisheng does instruct one not to practice other forms while practicing Fragrance Qigong. Thanks again ... Oh, and J Primack, I was interested mainly in the nine breath method. I borrowed his DVD from a friend but haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Dainin, Do you still practice Pan Gu Shengong? I have been practicing the moving form for a few years now and do the non-moving form much more often. What is interesting here is that Sifu associates Sun with the left channel and Moon with the right, as opposed to the yoga tradition which does the exact opposite. I have really not been strict with visualization but stick mostly to the movements alone. I have found this Qigong to be generating more energy in less time and with really simple movements. I am not too sure on the "channelling" controversy associated with this form (like Falun) but I have not had any negative effects so far. I am considering doing the third level, but that needs to be learnt from Sifu Ou personally. I happened to watch Jeff's level 1 and 2 DVDs a few days ago and his form didn't seem to do much for me. In fact, if anything did work, it was simply the spirals.

Verbose Hash

Dwai, Do you see how circular this argument is? You should, IMHO, bow out of this discussion and let VH get some sleep till a new Buddhist topic is triggered - unless of course you want to keep bumping this topic up in the good old Kunlun fashion! He bit his words on the Tao and all it took were some clever words to change his conviction. So, it is clear that his "experience" did not really matter there. The same probably is true with Advaita as well, but who knows or cares? Both parties have beaten this topic to death and it seems there never will be any conclusion. Both parties (which includes me) seem to think that their logic beats the other's and that the other's does not make sense. Both parties think of their view as transcending frameworks while the other's is stuck up. This will go on and on without adding much value. For once, I agree with Mikaelz.

True... a Kundalini awakening - if her aspect as simply the Pranic force is considered - is simply the start of the journey...and most of the time the awakenings, as understood through their external manifestations, are simple pranic activity and no more. They have their own place and importance, but ...

An elderly lady at a local center I visit now and then asked me yesterday if I knew any books dealing with chi self-massage that she and the other residents at the facility could use. I could think of some, but could not really recommend any as I haven't used any of these myself. Some of them that I heard good things about were: Healing Self-Massage: Over 100 Simple Techniques for Re-energizing Body and Mind Mantak Chia's book Jwing-Ming Yang's version There is also Master Chunyi Lin's qissage, which I am planning to get for myself - primarily because I just adore that man... Any recommendations? DVDs are okay too - I don't think they have a DVD player but I can find one for them.. Thanks in advance.

A Yogi could take a dose or not and it would probably not matter to him at all based on his level of attainment. But that's true for a Yogi, not for those aspiring to be yogis

Totally true ... and while on Psychedelics, even these states mistaken for enlightenment are hardly the bliss or a definitive cognition attained after years of practice. It's a movie, within a movie...that's all

Taoist Yoga: Alchemy & Immortality - by Charles Luk

Pan Gu Shengong indeed has a whole different feel to it and is the simplest of the Qigong forms I have known. The one thing I notice though is that even after the actual practice session has ended, it feels like the chi continues to be "channeled" - something I have not noticed in other forms I have practiced. The other form which I have found to be really powerful is Hua gong.

He He at least I ain't hovering around E-Sangha any more like the "wannabes" spending all their time on a forum dedicated to topics they contest ... And this sure is a dangerous trend when people cannot take criticism of a forum - as if it were one's identity - or may be it is! Speaking of hard lining and influences

Haven't used the Schumann Resonance freqs myself but a couple of friends on Transparent Corp who have dug deep into brainwave entrainment thought they were really overrated from the perspective of binaurals. They had a report on it's use published in the forum. I'll post it here if I can find it.

oops, some one took this personally .... again 10 year old, right! I am scared...I need to go find a daddy from another forum to help me out here ..daddy daddy, these guys are bullying me here..I have been telling them "because tathagata said so", it's all true...but they won't listen...I am so frustrated they don't understand how important D.O. is to me! help me please .... beat them up

A belated birthday present from TTB to Lin

Yoga is a word used differently by different Indian systems. Popularly, yoga (yuj dhatu) means union and this is Patanjali's school of thought. This arises from a Samkhya system, a semi-dualistic predecessor of Yoga and here the ultimate goal is to merge with the Supreme. Some even define Samkhya as the theory and Yoga as its practice. Other non-dualistic schools interpret yoga as the path to "realizing" the unbroken and inherent union (non-separateness) of the individual and the supreme. Non-dualistic schools of Hinduism reject the classic yoga system of Patanjali as dualistic and hence incapable of leading one to direct realization. According to them, there is only one yoga - the knowledge of the Self. Other so-called yogas such as Raja (hatha etc.), Bhakti and Karma yogas are upayas or preliminary steps for the less qualified ones. Even nirvikalpa samadhi, the highest state of classic yoga is not an ultimate achievement for a non-dualist as mere absence of duality does not liberate one - rather the knowledge of unity in the face of duality does. While the usefulness of yoga as a preparatory tool is accepted by a non-dualist, it's limitations are realized as well. Zen.. I will let those who know answer that

A really bad analogy for "feeling home"= "inner calling". A Dharma Chat: Right Speech Is Comedy Right Speech?

Are you sure the awakening was really of Kundalini and not an outburst of Prana. 99% of the times, people confuse pranic phenomena as Kundalini. Some schools of yoga hold that Kundalini is sukshma prana or the subtle-most form of Prana and some disagree with that - but most seem to agree they are connected. Also, the awakening is not always unpleasant or leaving one in a state of darkness, depression and lack of energy. That would only mean that the "awakening" was forced. Most yogic techniques, which employ "hatha" or force, thus run into the risk of such an awakening. Focus on directly awakening Kundalini or that awakening being an explicit goal was popularized by yogis such as Matsyendranatha and Gorakshanatha. But the ancient practice was to let Kundalini blossom by herself, and that was mostly a side-effect of the main practice. The ways to directly awaken Kundalini and focus on her aspect as a force seemed to have gained popularity in the medieval period. But a student of tantra however identifies Kundalini with his own chosen deity and all her assumed characters - such as grace, beauty, love, warmth etc. are seen in the ascent of Kundalini as well. The kundalini is no longer a physical force who needs to be guided, carefully prepared for or watched - she is divine, all-knowing and concerned about the aspirant like a caring mother. This approach can be slower, but is safer. It is the traditional practice of many yogis to employ deity yoga as the primary method and use hatha techniques only to compliment. And the transformation of Kundalini from being a physical energy to the Universal Consciousness that she really is (i.e. from jiva kundalini to vishva kundalini) is what really grants one Enlightenment (just to clarify, I am a hardcore Eternalist ) and when one is really centered around this higher goal, and not merely centered around a physical or energetic phenomenon, there seldom are many troubles. From a personal experience, a true awakening fills you with power, vigor and an all expanding awareness - which may not be steady but flashes now and then - and there is a true feeling of being connected with HER. And gradually, the intense vibrations or spanda are replaced by a total silence where you just ARE. She is frequently referred to as the greatest doctor - for as she blossoms, all diseases, of the body and mind, are cleansed as also the vasanas or impressions which are the causes behind such manifestations - and finally also the cure for Samsara when she reveals herself as the true and unified consciousness. She fills every pore with energy, for she is shakti afterall until one is vibrating so fast that there is absolutely no vibration. Not sure how much sense it makes, but with my very limited understanding, this is how I see it.

Valuable advice and also very Taoist ROFL

In Tantra, sexual practices are part of only the leftist path, the qualifications for entering which are many. Also, sex forms the fifth of the five leftist rites called pancha makara - and to be able to use it effectively, one should have transcended lust and identification with the physical body - to a certain degree. Only then can the stage of urdhvaretas (the upward flow of generational energy) which is so very important for sexual practices be achieved completely. In other words, the usefulness of such communion lies in the realm of the third etheric body - without that being activated or refined, it is simply a physical activity. So, it is not really the same as having sex or even having mindful sex. That said, it probably also depends on what one wants to achieve- through these indulgences or their transformations. Indulgence, Repression, Sublimation, Transformation ...

From what I heard from a student of Yan Xin .... NO There were copies of it sold for 50 to 100 bucks on ebay at some point, but not any more.