Zenshiite

I think it's worth pointing out that "faith" in the Semitic tradition is not the same as "faith" in the European tradition. Regardless of whether or not the predominant European religion is derived from a Semitic religion, Judaism and Christianity operate off a fundamentally different conception of faith. I'll say the same regarding Christianity and Islam. Ultimately in Judaism and Islam works are of far greater importance than "faith" which is usually no more than "belief" but the Hebrew and Arabic words for "faith" carry with them a different meaning and the stories of the faith of Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad and the other prophets certainly don't involve them merely just believing in God. They actually communicated directly with God and did the deeds they were instructed to do, and their faith came about more in the sense of "trust" than "belief without proof." In both traditions deeds are emphasized and faith comes about because of deeds and the results of those deeds. In this day and age fewer and fewer people graduate to this sort of faith. It's worth noting also, that the reality of what the prophets spoke of wasn't mere blind faith on the part of their respective community of followers(especially the closer we get to their lifetimes) people actually witnessed great things with these people and the results of them following through on the teachings of their prophets. The experiential quality certainly can become lost or rare over a significant period of time... but then again, the same is easily said of Taoism. Unless there is a relationship with a master of whatever stripe, Taoist, Buddhist, Sufi, Kabbalist what have you... all these traditions tend towards devolving into a mere set of beliefs.

Maybe it's just me, but you're just starting out and you're doing it for short periods of time... to me this sounds more like your body is getting acquainted with the physical aspect of the practice than you're necessarily getting tons of qi feedback. Don't focus so much on sensations right now. You don't want to start assuming you're making leaps and bounds in your practice when you've just started it. Just keep doing it.

My preferred method is to boil water in a kettle on a gas heat stove so you get an open flame, which usually takes about 15 minutes, and then steep the tea in a seperate pot from the one you're going to use to pour into your cups. Rarely ever do I use like a mug or something like that for tea. Currently I'm boiling on an electric stove, so it takes a little less time. Also, you want to make sure your water is at the right temperature for the tea you're using. With green teas you usually want it around 120 F, otherwise the tea gets kind of "scorched" and the experience is messed up. So let the water cool for a minute or two after it comes to a boil, then pour it over your leaves/bag. Also, I highly recommend you give Puer a try. I don't know if you don't like black teas, but man... Puer is a treat. Really earthy and delicious. This is where I buy pretty much all my loose leaf teas. www.taooftea.com I also suggest Numi organic for bagged teas. One last thing, what's your water quality? You want it as pure as possible. From experience, tap water makes a very different and inferior tea to a good spring water.

If your tea is acidic you're steeping it too long. With green tea I wouldn't steep it more than 2 minutes, or you're going to get some serious tannic acid. Black teas can go for 4 minutes. Also, what kind of tea are you using? Something in a bag? If so, get the best you can... still, I'd suggest brewing loose teas over anything in a bag.

Regarding ShangDi, it can be hard to find information because alot of Christian missionary types are attempting to convert Chinese people using this term. However, as near as I can tell the earliest Oracle Bone records definitely do not indicate that ShangDi, as in the Supreme God of the Shang dynasty kings, was ever a person. In fact, the record suggests that as the Shang kings turned more towards their ancestors the less the appealed to ShangDi for variety of possible reasons. They gradually started calling their own kings "Di" as well. Check out the chat section regarding the wiki article on Shangdi. Very interesting stuff there. The use of ShangDi to refer to a personal deity without bodily form, according to my research, definitely predates the later Taoist use of "Shang Di" as part of a titles for various gods in the Taoist pantheon.

^I'm not sure it's entirely true that all "gods" in Chinese cosmology/metaphysics are people that did great things. For instance, Shang Ti is apparently the early Chinese(in particularly the Shang dynasty) analogue to the God of Abraham including an absence of depictions. By the Zhou dynasty Shang Ti became identified with Heaven/Tian generally and as Taoism grew he was "depersonalized." Mozi tended to use Tian as a personalized deity as one would say Shang Ti. Ma Rong, an Eastern Han dynasty scholar, apparently claimed Shang Ti to be the personification of Tai Chi. Here's a wiki entry Shangdi.

You've also gotta wonder how much of that's actually true. How many people said that because it's the official party line and there's a certain fear of what might happen if it's found out what they really think/believe?

^Indeed. Different arts, different goals. Comparing/contrasting Yoga and Dao Yin would be more appropriate.

Sometimes calling a spade a spade is what the doctor ordered. If you indicate you don't want to invest in the teaching, all you're doing is expressing a notion of entitlement. In truth, you often have to put in just as much effort to prove you're worth investing the time into being taught as you might like to with the teaching. The fact of the matter is, if you're unwilling to invest in acquiring the teaching, chances are you're unlikely to invest in the practice of the teaching. It will not benefit you because you have no real impetus to follow through on whatever it is you're hoping to attain. Rare indeed has it been that people have received something for nothing. Including monks in monasteries. More often than not initiates have responsibilities around the temple or monastery that involve intensive labor in addition to their daily meditation and cultivation activities. And even then, their room and board has often been because there are wealthy patrons that make the upkeep of monks and monastery possible. Usually that has been kings and emperors. Martial arts teachers have rarely taught their skills for free, either. If it's not monetary compensation, it's personal service to the teacher. Traditional forms are, unfortunately, a thing of the past for the most part. Nowadays monetary compensation is the norm. In my experience, those teachers that don't require some kind of investment in the acquisition of the teaching don't produce much results. And that's no fault of the teacher, perhaps, but the students. But the freebies tend to attract so many people there is little opportunity for one-to-one interaction and thus less opportunity for real deep personalization of the instruction, as well as the more lackadaisical approach the overwhelming majority of the students will take towards what is being given out for free.

My suspicion is that you're eating something and not entirely digesting it resulting in gaseous buildup in your intestinal tract. I have a similar problem. It's mostly from not thoroughly chewing your food, but can also be due to bad food combinations and what not. When you're doing qigong/yoga do you tend to fart much? Because it should be getting gradually pushed out. Also, maybe do a whole body cleanse program. You can buy a kit at a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods for like 20 bucks. Just my 2 coppers, for what they are worth.

This is some interesting stuff. Thanks for the link Drew.

Yeah, it's interesting. As the bandits targets are corrupt officials... but then they go on to raze entire towns. Furthermore, they are still loyal to the Emperor. Wierd.

You guys should give Dream of the Dragon Pool - A Daoist Quest by Albert A Dalia a shot. It's great, and it's all Li Bo.

I'm about 2/3rds of way through Outlaws of the Marsh. It's pretty great.

QFT. Two totally different phenomena there.