RiverSnake

You will find lots of info on Flying Phoenix here. Welcome to TTB. My 2 cents, Peace

Welcome to this little old site redneck. Enjoy your stay. My 2 cents, Peace

Welcome to TTB. Looking forward to your contributions Goufae. My 2 cents, Peace

What a phenomenal video:

Lol, you reminded of this blogpost: http://www.inominandum.com/blog/my-poor-magician-post/ My 2 cents, Peace

In my understanding Trance is a tool used in almost all cultures and Traditions. Shamans call it Journeying, in the Western Tradition people go into Trance and explore Inner Worlds or Inner Space in order to make "Contacts" which can guide them on the path as well as meet there Guardian Angels, animal guardians, communicate with Deities and dead relatives, heal people with Fragmented Souls, visit the Big Library........etc Although i have spent a lot of time learning how to lounge in the Emptiness through meditation and heal myself by opening channels and strengthening my energy body i have not spent much time playing in the Void and simply curious of what peoples experiences of playing in the Void have been and whats the value of learning and dedicating some time to Trance and Journeying? How has using Trance been useful or not useful for you on your Path?

Indeed, I always felt a bit uncomfortable sharing my experiences in trance do to the highly subjective nature of the experience. As a result I just record my notes in poetry/verse. My 2 cents, Peace

Just wanted to chime in and say that trees are amazing. Its a practice that i always got a lot of joy out of doing. There is a circle of trees over in my local park that i sometimes go to. I stand in the center and all of the trees will engulf me in there fields at once. Its always a lovely experience. Unfortunately i actually haven't done it in awhile….but this thread has inspired me to pick up Tree Gong once again and make it a daily part of my practice. My 2 cents, Peace

Lol.....when I was writing in regards to virtue and character I was thinking more of Qi Gong and less about martial arts. Not many martial artists....at-least in the U.S. are that concerned about Purity, Virtue and spirituality in general......that is my experience. Most martial artists IME are more concerned with learning to defend themselves, there family and learning how to most effectively kick ass. My 2 cents, Peace

I'll add that…..IME….the deeper and more focused my meditation is the more things just tend to disappear. My body, my mind, my sense of space…..and my sense of time…..they seem to become more and more fluid and formless. My 2 cents, Peace

From a martial perspective one thing i have found is that if you really meditate on the postures and the forms….feel into them at deeper and deeper levels….that aspects of the technique will unfold for you all on its own….sometimes these will be things your teacher has said a hundred times and it just then "clicks"…..other times things your teacher never said will unfold for you simply because they were imbedded in the postures and movements of the practice…..but he did not necessarily convey it to you overtly. Its always a lot of fun when you see these little gems pop out of our practice and our understanding deepens as a result. My 2 cents, Peace

An interesting video: My 2 cents, Peace

One thing I think we can do is look at the students that the system produces. What kind of people are they? How did the system shape them as an individual....do they have good character and display virtue.....etc My 2 cents, Peace

DP

I've come to see Trance as separating a fragment of ones consciousness from our body and using that consciousness to explore the Astral and other subtler realms. It has continued to be confirmed in my practice that "Grounding" is extremely important as it seems to be a lesser version of Astral Projection. As Spotless has mentioned it truly is fascinating working with other Beings and exploring the cosmos in this fashion. You can also use this altered state to explore your own Microcosm/Inner Landscape and see how you appear from and inner context and areas in which you need to heal (Da Mos Cave). The boundaries between Inner and Outer when doing this kind of work can get a bit fuzzy. But its not a practice that should be done without certain knowledge and understanding as the pitfalls and dangers can be enormous when venturing out on the Astral.....especially without guidance from friends. For those interested i would highly recommend the Magical Knowledge 1-2 by Josephine McCarthy. She refers to this work as working in Vision. She offers a truly masterful compendium of knowledge regarding the various Beings you can work with and the very nature of this work. Other great books which were highly complimentary and worked me up to being able to understand this topic are: Magical Pathworking by Nick Farrel Tranceportation by Diana L. Paxson Singing the Soul Back Home by Caitlin Mathews My 2 cents, Peace

I don't think so....i don't fully understand the definition of that term. I incorporate a bit of Trance/Vision work into my practice....but that's about it. No looking into mirrors or crystal balls for me. My 2 cents, Peace

Don't think you need a teacher just to get you started. There are a lot of simple and basic techniques out there that can be readily applied without anyone standing over you. When you get some experience under your belt then you will be able to tell the wheat from the chaff. Best of luck. My 2 cents, Peace

Learning about Taoism in an intellectual fashion is highly limited in its application. Practicing Meditation and Chi Kung is the best way to learn about the TAO.......IMO. -Welcome to the forum Student. My 2 cents, Peace

Hmmmm?

K. Cool. It's not just me then. My 2 cents, Peace

Some of his techniques are good others are downright dangerous......like the million dollar point. From this it is apparent to me that he didn't thoroughly test everything he teaches and yet still put it out for mass consumption. If your interested in the MCO: Chun Yi Lin of Spring Forest Chi Kung has a cd for the orbit. I trust his material much more thank I would Mantak Chia. http://www.springforestqigong.com/index.php/all-cds-and-downloads My 2 cents, Peace

My martial arts teacher said something similar occurred in regard to many of the martial arts systems in China. The government wanted to water down the techniques......as a result many of the masters said "fuck that" and left the country to continue to pass on knowledge in places like Malaysia. My 2 cents, Peace

I am always skeptical of Beings that Christianity interprets as Evil…..given the heavily unbalanced nature and evil "tendencies" of Christianity itself. Always good to look whose talking for yourself. My 2 cents, Peace

I personally am not fond of Mantak Chia. Would recommend you look elsewhere for internal arts. My 2 cents, Peace

It actually took me awhile before I could even do ancestral work. I was "blocked" and didn't even realize it do to all the "bad programming" that has filtered down into our society as a result of divisive religions. It took a bit of pathworking and many months of patience to "debug" myself before I could connect in any significant way. The way our society always portrays the dead from a basis of fear has subconscious consequences that we don't even realize. Zombies, demons, vampires......etc. My 2 cents, Peace