RiverSnake

Welcome to TDB. Here's a very powerful but simple exercise from Spring Forest Qigong. Qigong needn't be complicated, just practice daily. Practice, Practice Practice. Practice is the key.

There is a lot of great interviews with teachers in this section of the forum. You may find something of value spooling through them. By the way i like the name. Cheers. https://www.thedaobums.com/forum/356-interviews/

"In my experience, everyone will say they want to discover the Truth, right up until they realize that the Truth will rob them of their deepest held ideas, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. The freedom of enlightenment means much more than the experience of love and peace. It means discovering a Truth that will turn your view of self and life upside-down. For one who is truly ready, this will be unimaginably liberating. But for one who is still clinging in any way, this will be extremely challenging indeed.How does one know if they are ready? One is ready when they are willing to be absolutely consumed, when they are willing to be fuel for a fire without end."~Adyashanti

Welcome to TDB. What are you looking for a teacher in?

Learning quite a bit.

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready.....the teacher will disappear." Lao-Tzu

It is an interesting conundrum....there is a saying: "You get the teacher you deserve." Just like everything else in life you fall in the slot you resonate with....fake students get fake teachers....the sincere can usually see through the bullshit. For the individual whom keeps running into fake teachers and getting taking advantage of.....IMO it profits them to stop looking outward....take some time with basic techniques to shift there vibration (several years if necessary) so they can even be capable of sifting the chaff from the wheat.

Lot of good info here: https://www.kundaliniawakeningprocess.com/blog/videos-about-kundalini/ https://www.youtube.com/user/KAPvids/videos

My hero.

Hammrofthor, just one last thing, TDB is a great source of information. Yet always remember a key thing about the internet.....it is "the internet". There are people out there whom have shit on there tongues and feel it there duty to lick everyone else from head to toe with it. The TDB is no exception to this rule. I could be one of those people as well as anyone else....use your own wisdom, research and a very large grain of salt to discern the chaff from the wheat. Cheers and best of luck in your search.

Welcome to TDB. There are as many blockages in the average person's body as there are stars in the sky. Furthermore they can take a LONG LONG time to work through. Charging blockages with love has always been a useful strategy for me....but it doesn't all happen at once....day by day chipping away a little at a time. Cheers.

Welcome to TDB. If your looking for insights from a teacher you might enjoy reading the interviews section on the forum. Best of luck.

Welcome to TDB.

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front to rule it." H.L. Mencken

I think one of the potential dangers of doing a group retreat is that your in a "group" and there can be schedules, expectations and routines. People can go into groups and as a result of being caught up in the group mind...end up ignoring there own intuitive knowledge telling them they need to take a break and allow things to integrate. Pushing to far in any kind of practice can cause unnecessary difficulties.

It bares mentioning that IME Zazen is perhaps one of the most stable practices i have ever experienced. By stable i mean that you can do it for very long periods of time without excessive detoxing or core shifts occurring. In fact it gives a very relaxing, refreshing and therapeutic effect. Very hard to overdo it. On the other hand when you get into other practices that start to go into the energy body, make core shifts and stimulate flows....this can be a challenging process that will require a period of integration. Furthermore making "shifts" in a haphazard and intuitively retarded way where you play wackamole with your vehicle.....not a good idea at all.....and can cause all manner of problems.

Yes, one of the main things people can possibly take from this thread is that there is a large field of ambiguity in the subtle arts and highly varied levels of skill. Don't take any thing at face value....but rather with a grain of salt.

It's also useful to look at the term or gauge of mastery within each particular system. I've known people to attend a couple weekends of Reiki workshops, receive several transmissions and then be considered masters and ready to teach....and they are masters....within the context of the system they are practicing and what is expected of them. Yet when we make use of the word mastery in the nebulous spiritual context then others might debate such a persons level of skill. When looking at different systems it can be useful to have a checklist as to what qualifies a person. A series of steps that grant one the title of mastery, much like an apprenticeship of old in which the student needs to demonstrate certain feats. This can vary from system to system. Each system might look for different abilities or qualities within the student which in his eyes mean he is ready to set off into the world as a master in his own right. Having such a checklist can be easier accomplished with physical crafts (Blacksmith, Wood Carver, Computer Programmer...etc)....but i think it's important to have a system of gauges within the subtle arts as well that is specific to each system. Examples of this may be the development of subtle senses, opening of specific channels, ability to project chi, healing capabilities...etc.

Excellent post, thanks for sharing it. So far in my studies i have not found a "finish line" for cultivation. You mentioned merging with the Tao but IME there always seems to be deeper levels. The difficulty with the term master (in my mind) is that it implies a sense of being static or finished. Rather i think it would be more useful a term to describe someone whom is skillful in a particular field. In saying that, i have meet many people in the spheres of martial and spiritual cultivation that were "masterful" yet still were quite flawed (at least from my perception). IMO you can be a jackass and masterful of your craft simultaneously. Though such flaws also naturally limit the level of mastery in a specific field. I have meet practitioners with 70+ years of experience and although i couldn't help but marvel at there skill...i simultaneously wanted nothing to do with them because they were jackasses. From my personal experience when it comes to gauging "masters" i come into contact with i find that there are a couple of things that really resonate with me and are a sign of a "groovy master" versus a regular "master": An easy sense of humor, the ability to crack a joke, relax and be irreverent about things. Practitioners with that stone face buddha attitude....it's usually a red flag in my view. Individuals with an open mind and a curiosity about there craft and the craft of others...there is always a sense of playfulness and open exploration about the path rather than being stiff about how they know everything. When people tell me there way is "best" and that others paths are invalid (talking shit)....that is a major red flag. Basically people whom you can hang out and have fun with without the stifling pretense of spiritual mumbo jumbo. They'll talk openly and sincerely about there craft as would anyone whom is passionate and joyful in what they do. So i'd make that basic division of Groovy Master vs Regular Master. It can be a difficult topic as both can be extremely skilled, but i choose the groovy master everyday of the week. Of course for those with ability you can look at someone and energetically examine them and get a ballpark estimate of where there at....but that's not a very useful metric for the beginner. Cheers.

This is my experience as well.

"We are at war, but the only way to win this war is to be as understanding, non biased and politically correct as possible.” PC Principal (South Park)

A couple differences i've noticed....warrior paths tend to emphasize intense self discipline and control. In some ways it can be quicker because it is always pushing you to acknowledge, confront and grapple with death. By being forced to constantly engage with this force and having to learn how to master and control evil (shadow-side)....this can be a very direct and intense path to gnosis. When your always under the blade....life and cultivation takes on a whole new level of depth. You feel a deep drive to always push your boundaries of skill. There is no room for self-deceit when in your mind a knife is always at your throat. Like chi kung many martial schools emphasize postures for triggering internal shifts. Generally it is a masculine path (though there are some fiery female warriors out there) so there can be a great hurtle for the masculine to learn how to relax and "be cool". Will comment more later if i think of anything else. Cheers.

Currently working on my own system that merges Martial and Spiritual cultivation. It's certainly not a path for everyone, but for those whom resonate with that spiritual warrior archetype (Shaolin Monk, Jedi...etc) they may find some resonance. You can see in systems of mythology such as Hinduism and Norse that many of the gods even those referred as highly spiritually enlightened beings are also warriors (Kali, Shiva, Odin, Krishna....etc). It's a common motif. I don't particularly think it's a better path....but every duck must find his pond.

Secret Smile is the foundation for many systems of practice. Mind body connection.