johndoe2012

I don't understand where this avoidance of our awareness comes from? I heard another theory that is the clinging to the body that creates a "self" which in turn creates separation and non-complete awareness.

I don't whether it counts as a spiritual linage but one guy experienced buddhist images after doing the flying phoenix qigong practise even though he hadn't practised Buddhism. See the flying phoenix thread for more info.

Been doing the first three standing and first three seated for a bit over two weeks I also feel a lot of energy in seated Monk Gazing at Moon. For me it seems like there is a lot more energy after doing the hand movements which is why I like to hold the static posture for some time afterwards.

You might want to check out Pietro's thread on breathing. I am doing one of the exercises from Carola H. Speads "Breathing - the ABC's" also known as "Ways to Better Breathing". The exercise consists of breathing into the nose and breathing out the mouth with a straw. This is supposed to relax the diaphragm slow which in turn improves muscle tone - which then will lead to efficient breathing. I always feel much more relaxed in the belly and breathing is less forced (especially exhalation) when I have done this exercise for ten minutes. This is one of her exercises, there are many more. Maybe you will it helpful. Another book you can read is Unwinding the Belly. Eric23 has a thread about that. I have only done this about 5 minutes per day so I cannot testify it's effect but I feel more relaxed in the whole body.

I've had pressure at my third eye area when reading certain posts here on TTB and today when I was reading a buddhist book. Is this some sort of energy transmission?

Are you doing Iron Shirt practises or does this come naturally?

Pablo, how do you plan to incorporate Flying Phoenix into your daily practise? Will you stop doing Hunyuan Qigong and Zhan Zhuang? I just started doing Flying Phoenix vol 1 and 2, my background is also Zhan Zhuang and Taijiquan. Zen-bear: would one have the benefits of ordinary Zhan Zhuang (pole stance training) doing the standing meditations of Flying Phoenix or would one have to do another set of just standing (Wuji, holding the balloon etc.) for improving one's Taijiquan? I guess the physical aspect of ordinary Zhan Zhuang - leg work, static position is the same in the Flying Phoenix meditations. The six directions of force is however missing and maybe one should practise that in another session.

What are we talking about here? I don't seem to understand.

This is very beautiful, thank you.

Sifu Terry, Could you tell me a bit about volume six, advanced martial meditations? How do the meditations differ from the other ones? Chris

I had a dream about receiving shaktipat last night and I seemed to wake up and still having a feeling of receiving energy. Later I fell asleep again and gave shaktipat to someone else in my dream. Very interesting experience. Anyway, I will be there on next Global Shaktipat.

Isn't a transmission necessary to use this method?

Indeed, society holds activity as superior to non-activity. I would suggest slowing down, working max. 4 hours per day or similiar which would only provide means for buying food and shelter (and time for meditation! ) Essentially, nobody in mainstream societies are willing to stop and think for a while where the current trend is going. They want to increase consumerism to avoid having a meltdown in economy. Shortsightedness never works.

Blog post regarding foot alignment: http://internalgongfu.blogspot.com/2010/06/zhan-zhuang-foot-alignment.html

This is what I think is crucial to understanding the Tao. Don't judge with your intellect, use your intuition. This will naturally unfold if you meditate and reach the Original Mind as it is called in the Secret of the Golden Flower. Intervention in society is futile until you reach this stage. Until then you can't do anything but practice. Indeed, out of spontaneity we prevent the act from happening.

Maybe my understanding of Tao Te Ching and Taoism is lacking, but isn't it better to just be aware of your surroundings including society and not judge it as good and bad? Isn't the human activity just a part of Tao? Maybe Tao Te Ching was indeed written by many scholars and later chapters were added to dilute it. Thoughts?

I would recommend Way of Energy by Lam Kam Chuen. It teaches you Zhan Zhuang in a safe way with normal abdominal breathing. Maybe work on your virtue also. I think a book on Buddha's Noble 8 fold path is fine to introduce you to karma, compassion etc. You can find it here.

The real question is: how many hours can Superman sit in full lotus?

It is mentioned in Way of Energy that this is to train the calf muscles but in Way of Power it is stated that standing on the balls of the feet ("upper triangle") "unlocks the secrets of the explosive power in Da Cheng Quan" (yiquan). This technique is also used in the level 1 Kunlun posture albeit sitting.

Is Damo's Cave from KAP and "Path Notes from an American Ninja Master" the same as self-hypnosis? It seems like the same technique mentioned here: http://litemind.com/mental-sanctuary/ Devoid: is this the technique you are using?

Buddha said not to take something that doesn't belong to you. I'm not sure whether that includes ebooks as well. On the other side an author like Paulo Coelho actually makes more money due to piracy because then his works get known and so act as a free advertisement. This is not really black and white. I can understand those who are against copyright infringement and also those who are for.

I enjoyed reading Wang's take on Taijiquan: http://taijijourney.blogspot.com/2005/07/interview-with-mr-wang-xiangzhai.html I would say that I would prefer more emphasis on the foundation than the form in Taijiquan. That's why I'm doing Zhan Zhuang and looking at Yiquan as well. Whole-body movement is very important.

Is contraction of the anus (ie. the huiyin point) recommended while exhaling? I tried it twice during Zhan Zhuang and got spontaneous movements (arms and spine). "Way of Energy", "Way of Power" and "Zhan Zhuang and search of Wu" says "breathe normally". It seems the contraction of huiyin generates more qi at the expense of a less relaxed practise?

You can OCR it with a program thus making it searchable.