RobB

<arrgh, can't resist...> 1. Rob Poynton's key observation was that he saw Mitzner using the same basic tricks that people used twenty years ago to claim 'mysterious powers' which, when looked at more critically, turned out to be basic matters of biomechanics. Mitzner is a big name with, apparently, real skill. Why does he feel the need to wheel out these old carny manoeuvres? 2. @Pak_Satrio the reason it matters is that martial arts and alternative healing are bullshit-rich environments. There are a lot of vulnerable and gullible people around looking for magical solutions. We don't need anyone, especially someone with a massive social media presence, adding to the dung heap.

Why? If I've seen five questionable things in a five minute trailer, why would my view on that be substantiated or otherwise by whether or not I've watched the rest of the movie? Anyway, I have no dog in this fight - I think its a good thing that people like Rob are prepared to share their considerable experience for the benefit of others - no-one else has to agree :-)

I am afraid I have no idea what this means. My point, certainly poorly expressed, is that active debunking serves us all. Lots of us, certainly myself, started off wanting to be ninjas or acquire special powers or 'see beyond the mundane' or similar. Further down the tracks, I appreciate those teachers who keep it real - especially where self-defence or healing are concerned. Does it work, can you test it? Can you do it? Can you teach them to do it? Maybe that is your situation - that's great and I'm happy for you. However, there are large numbers of shysters out there actively feeding off on the initial quest for wonder and short-cuts to power. In my view, people like Rob, who I'm pretty sure would not claim mastery of any sort, are acting in the best interests of the community in providing a balancing viewpoint and helping equip people to seperate the wheat from the chaff. And ultimately, when the teacher passes all of those tests, when all the debunking is done and they're still standing - well, isn't there something genuinely interesting going on there?

Also worth noting that Rob Poynton, the person in the video posted above, had extensive experience in Tai Chi before moving on to Systema (which battles its own accusations of 'no touch' woo-woo!). Surely part of the path is working through appearances, discerning real from unreal? Adding layers of mystical nonsense benefits no-one apart from the person trying to mystify.

Ha! Sounds exactly like a Dragon & Tiger Chi Gung seminar I went to years ago!

I studied EA stuff for a bit, mainly via Brian Cooper, Bruce's senior student in the UK at the time. I went to a couple of seminars where Bruce taught. He's a character. When stories came up Brian would shrug and say 'Bruce is Bruce'. I've heard this from others as well. I also had some contact with a swedish guy who organised some seminars for Bruce and came away very dissatisfied with some behaviours he encountered. I was quite invested in the EA curriculum - had strong dissolving experiences and had just started teaching local classes in Wu short form. Then another teacher moved into my town and I met up with him out of curiosity. Never went back to EA. When it's time to change, it's time to change.

Thanks. Would it be accurate to say that we find egregores everywhere that we find a sustained, shared sense of purpose or identity? I'm in the UK and we seem, as a society, so fragmented and dissipated right now. I'm not sure whether something has been lost and needs re-finding or whether something else has ascended and needs repressing or undermining. Maybe neither and it's just a question of riding out the flow of consequences as best we can.

Displaying my ignorance here but, @Yueya, would you say that your local community: 'where I live has strong secular community support and is a very friendly place to be' is in some way an egregore?

How to make the best of it? By shaving your beard off! I tend to stop shaving on the autumnal equinox and take it up again in spring - in the future, my beard, and beards like mine will be the only reliable indicators of seasonal change!

Could you all step up the pace a bit please? By my reckoning we've got at least <fx: checks notes> 92 pages of this to get through before we can go home.

Wonderful, Steve - thanks for this. All the best to everyone here (and those no longer here who we wish would come back) for 2022!

I saw this posted by a friend of mine a couple of days ago. It resonated with me on the theme of repetitive practices and not being diverted by the 'novel' or the 'colourful'. 'In the modern world repetition and naivety go hand in hand. Sophistication is the highest virtue - the search for endless variety, for ways to keep scattering our longing in entertainments and distractions, in different things to do and say. Even the attempts we make to improve ourselves, become wiser and more interesting or successful, are just methods of running from the hollowness we all feel inside. So we get everything upside down and back to front, mistaking sophistication for maturity and hardly noticing that there's nothing more repetitious than the desire for variety. It needs tremendous focus, and immense intensity, to break through the wall of appearances that surround us and that we think of as reality. Most people paint their wall in different colours and then imagine they're free.' - Peter Kingsley, 'In the Dark Places of Wisdom'.

Could also look at: https://www.daxuanschoolsydney.com/. It's quite an integrated practice and if it suits you - it suits you. Good luck with your search

Hej*! A type of Sitting and Forgetting forms part of the Shen Dan in Daxuan school. (https://sergeaugier.com/courses/daoist-cultivation/) There are some long term students in Oslo who might be able to discuss further (in Norwegian!) : [email protected] * Sorry - Swedish I know...

Serge Augier https://sergeaugier.com/

Initial Experiences with the Kabbalah: Bob Smith and Riordan Phobos https://www.amazon.co.uk/Initial-Experiences-Kabbalah-Rordan-Phobos-ebook/dp/B09J1WBPXC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Initial+Experiences+With+The+Kabbalah&qid=1634202134&qsid=258-1059690-1366666&sr=8-3&sres=B09HQ1TBD1%2CB07H93PKN1%2CB07ZVLSRSM%2CB08JVJMBFF%2CB08JVKR37T%2CB08V4BDXC1%2CB08DG49M7V%2CB07HRM7YTM%2CB08DG5PFDJ%2CB08DG496TT%2CB08DG48KH4%2CB08DG4SSVG%2CB08DG5VMWT%2CB08DG5YKPW%2CB08JGXRZG3%2CB0779CGJK4&srpt=ABIS_BOOK One of the authors posts as Peacedog on the Rumsoakedfist forum and has (also 'I think') occasionally posted here as @peacedog94. He always writes entertainingly whether you agree with him or not so likely to be well worth a read!

https://youtu.be/3q8nGnls1Ow

All the very best @Earl Grey - hope your experience is one of the shorter, smoother, ones.

Currently, it's about seeking stillness. Every session I set myself up, find the stillest bit of me and dive in. Let the stillness envelop me and await developments. Sometimes its a physical reaction - a realignment, release whatever. Sometimes it's my mind that starts to come up with stuff. I try to stay vigilent and sincere. When I realise my focus has drifted elsewhere, I seek out the stillest point -whether that be in my mind or my body, rinse and repeat. I'm really surprised this is turning out to be such a physical process. Sometimes it's about stting in the stillness and appreciating that my body and mind need to sort themselves out and find their way towards joining me.

I claim no expertise here but this all seems to exemplify the strong contractive (which can appear as divisive) dynamic of Metal. We're all disappearing into our own 'walled gardens' for whatever reason makes sense to us. If it is the current Wu Xing dynamic then so be it but I appreciate the efforts of @steve et al to try and reach across the walls and keep some balance in the face of the zeitgeist.

https://www.shambhala.com/remembering-thomas-cleary/?fbclid=IwAR1LnYnA1OdtNUA8A62Dkk54IbSkoXda3q6MylznoAGt_E6tDKSfgas5svs One of the constant names from my reading over the years. RIP.