zen-bear

Earl Gray, Thanks for giving Blue Phoenix the correct answer and guidance as to how to do the 2 intermediate meditations on Vol.3, "Wind Through Treetops" and "Moonbeam..." Sifu Terry www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi DSCB57: Sorry for the slowness of this reply. Mitigating circumstance--perhaps the best: Mercury retrograde! Answer to Question #1: Continue practicing Bending the Bows with as much concentration as you can muster to keep consciousness and your count of repetitions straight. Staying alert and not dozing off or trancing out is an essential part of the FPCK mental training. Just persevere. Answer to Question #2: Yes, "Bending the Bows" is done in sets of 18 repetitions. No, "Wind Above the Clouds" is done only one round per each breath formula (50 40 30%). If you want to do another round, you take three deep breaths to conclude the first round of practice. Then repeat the breath control sequence and then proceed with another one round only. But what if each repetition takes 5 -10 minutes? How is one supposed to devote 2 - 3 hours to a single meditation? You can do Wind Above Clouds any number of times; most people don't ever exceed 3x, 4x or 5x Enjoy your practice. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Deltrus, 4/5 standing FP Meditations every morning is a good and solid practice regimen. Try to make Bending the Bows one of your daily standing exercises. Then try to work in one or two seated MSW meditations sometime during the day as well--if possible. Sifu Terry www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Deltrus, Just got back from Hawaii teaching and still catching up with everyone on the thread. do all exercises end in 3 deep breaths and the last breath being through the mouth? YES, THAT IS THE STRICT PROTOCOL TO FOLLOW. What happens if you take 4 deep breaths by accident? Nothing terrible. But just start over and take another 3 deep breathes to end tohe FP Meditation. If you flub it and do 4 at the start. Stop. Then start all over again with 3 breathes. Is the aim for the spine and head to be straight up in all exercises which don't specifically say to bend? Like suspended by a string at the crown of my head? Edit nvm I see the last standing exercise in vol 1 has the back bent in parts, but the question still stands for exercises 1-4 in vol 1. YES. Form in the standing FP Meditations is vertical straight back. but not ramrod straight to the point of being overly tense. So, yes, use the image I describe in the DVD of "being suspended by a string attached to the crown of the head." Remember: with moving meditations, they are all about "Opening ad Closing the body" For monk gazing at moon, do I have to have the intent of looking forward even with eyes closed? I've just been relaxing my eyes. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN THROUGHOUT MONK GAZING ATY MOON. OTHERWISE YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. MONK GAZING AT MOON IS THE ONLY MED. IN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IN WHICH THE EYES ARE OPEN. SO KEEP EYES OPEN!! In "bending the bows" and "monk holding the pearl" should the elbows be straight outwards and in a line or relaxed and bent towards the body? GOOD QUESTION. SINCE YOU ASKED, YOU CAN KEEP THEM POINTING TO THE THE SIDES AND STRAIGHT OTUWARDS AND IN LINE...AND NOT BENT TOWARDS THE BODY. Should the hands be touching the stomach in this position, or hovering in front without touching? TOUCHING--NOT "HOVERING". How many times should "bending the bows" be repeated? AS TAO STILLNESS advised: 18 X See you online again soon. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Correct. Eighteen rounds of Bending the Bows for all beginners. Once you can do a set with total relaxation going down to the deepest horse stance for each part of the exercise (A and and not feel your body (i.e., muscle-free movement), you can do less than 18. Thanks, Steve, for passing on the teaching. It's on the Volume 1 DVD. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Steve, I will be glad to share more of my experiences related to Qigong practice. I've already told a lot of the more interesting ones during my apprenticeship with GM Doo Wai. There are plenty that I can share because I practice so many different forms of Qigong. well, I just got through teach workshops in Honolulu at the 14th annual Summit Conference of IVAT (Institute on Violence, ABuse and Trauma) and orgazation of some 3,000 healthcare professionals--mostly physicians, psychologists and social workers, MFCC's, and other types of counselors all working to heal the damage caused by violence, abuse and trauma--or to prevent them. Hot on the heels of teaching 3 hour FP Qigong workshops in Honolulu to groups of 60, I taught a 2-hour class last night at the local acupuncture college and we covered all 5 basic standing FP Meditations on Volume 1 and the first 3 seated warm-up meditations on Volume 2 plus the first MSW (90 50 40 30 10). It's always fun and gratifying for me to introduce a group of beginners to the effects of FP Qigong for the first time. Several of the students about 5 had taken my Tai Chi class in the past, but they weren't prepared for the deeply unifying effects of the FP Qigong grounding them and "snapping their souls into place." One of ladies at the end said, " Wow, that 70's New Age phrase by Ram Dass: "Be Here Now"--is totally moot after you practice a little Flying Phoenix. Just amazing!" Another gal, Deborah, who started yesterday looked like a bit of a little edgie, bristly, handsome, in jeans and plaid shirt, long blonde hair, strong arms, looked like she was working/struggling in a man's arena or milieu. Midway through the class she said she was really hot and perspiring a lot. I told her that that is the FP Healing Energy breaking through "surface tension" on the skin and around certain organs...and that it would soon pass...and to just work through the heat. I told her tha FP Qigong Energy, relatively speaking, is a COOL ENERGY. After the 2.25 hour class sended, she left glowing with very smooth skin, very cool but radiant complexion and quite elated. I will gather my thoughts about some more recent experiences of my own and post them in the coming days. I have a workshop with Tai Chi Grandmaster William C.C. Chen April 8-9, so the posts will probably come next week. Thanks for asking. Best to all, Sifu Terry

Hello Earl Gray, My apologies to you--and to other Daobums who have posted questions and not received prompt replies (within one week, at least)--for the slowness of this response. I was in Hawaii last week teaching FP Qigong workshops at a large convention of healthcare professionals and first-responders all dealing with VAT = Violence, Abuse and Trauma. 900 attendees. Very successul breakout sessions doing FP Qigong for 3 hours. And I am now back in California, still catching up on backlog of business and, of course, I will catch up to everybody's posted questions here about FP Qigong in due time. Again, I want to say that I'm very gratified to know that your FP Qigong practice has taken off and has made a profound difference in the quality of your acupuncture practice. That is why I am teaching FP Qigong (along with Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung and Yang Tai Chi Chuan at the No.2-rated Acupuncture College in the U.S. and the No.1 in California. The FP Qigong facilitates "seeing", feeling, or otherwise sensing the energy balance or imbalances in the body and enabling the development of the right treatment so that one can let go of the textbook formulas all the quicker. I'm also glad to hear that the FP Qigong energy that you've cultivated has affected the dynamics and communications in your personal relationship, even though it is ended. As one of my teachers quoted another teacher's observation of one of the great Universal Truths: "Cosmic Consciousness (in this case facilitated by Flying Phoenix Qigong practice) is totally ruthless and highly indifferent." --meaning, It will make you real whether you like it or not. (LOL). The above in bold orange is our most favorite process statement that we would make in the 70's and 80's whenever one of our group achieved a therapeutic breakthrough or a genuine spiritual awakening. Such is the joy of growth while on the warrior's path of Knowledge. I'm also glad to hear that you're enjoying the FP Qigong practice to such an extent that you are naming the unnamed MSW meditations according to your experience of them. Hey, knock yourself out in celebrating the sublimity of FP Qigong by giving them inspired names. Good work. And at some point you do want to become certified to teach FP Qigong, get in touch with me through PM and I will tell you the process and requirements. You certainly have the heart for it. I have one student in the U.S. midwest who is getting close to instructor level and who's actually ahead of my students in L.A. in terms of knowing the basic level of the FP Qigong thoroughly. Cheers, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Thank you, Cihan for your perfect answer to Deltrus's question about timing the duration of practice of the FP meditations that comes directly from your experience of correctly practicing FP Qigong. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Deltrus, Answers to your questions are in bold below: 1. I notice that you breath fairly quickly during the 50% 80% 10% etc breathing sequences. I was under the impression that breathing slowly and deeply is always better. Is this false? My rhythm was all off, usually I breath as slowly as possible, in meditations especially. First, I don't recall an FP Med. that has the breathing of "50 - 80 -10." Is that a typo? If not, let me know which FP Meditation you are referring to by the DVD volume and when it appears on the program. About my breathing rate on the DVD series: I breath at a rate that was normal for me in 2004 when I made the DVDs. I suspect that my respiratory per minute has decreased over the past 13 years, while my tidal volume (lung's capacity) has increased--although I haven't had clinical measurements taken...as I do lots of aerobic sports in addition to an average of 3 hrs. of Tai Chi/Kung Fu/Qigong practice every day. 2. Do you time breathing with your movements? With qigong, I have been breathing out with upward / outward movements and in with inward/downward movements. One movement = one breath. Is this a good strategy with FP chi kung? NO. AS STATED SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THIS THREAD, AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM REPEATING IT HERE FOR YOU AND THE NEW YEAR (IT'S PERSIAN NEW YEAR'S BTW, BASED ON THE SPRING EQUINOX) YOU DO NOT TIME ANY PART OF THE BREATH CYCLE WITH ANY PARTICULAR MOVEMENT IN FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG. YOU DO THE UNIQUE BREATH-CONTROL SEQUENCE ONCE, AND THEN BREATH NORMALLY AS YOU PERFORM THE MOVEMENTS OF THE MEDITATIONS AS SLOWLY AS YOU CAN, APPROACHING, IN THE WORDS OF GM DOO WAI, "THE SPEED OF A SHIFTING SAND DUNE." ENJOY YOUR PRACTICE!! Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Charlie, Glad to hear that you are doing well one month after your 108 gong of the Long Form Standing Med. and that have delved deeply into the 5 short standing FP meditations on Volume 5. Yes, once you make them your own, they dictate the time of practice right for your body. I can take up to 45 min. to practice the 5. or do them all in 25 min. flat. Glad that you have found them to be gems that lead to deeper understanding of the entire FP Qigong process. That' why I gave them their own DVD volume! Thanks for your feedback as always. Best, Sifu Terry www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Deltrus, I always take what an FP Practitioner says he has experienced at face value. Unless my intellect and spirit screams that "that is totally impossible hogwash." Your reported pre-practice experience of the FP Healing Energy may be a sign that you have a proclivity, special aptitude or predilection for doing this particular art. Or not. At any rate, I'm not going to discount or invalidate your experience of that phenomenon. What do you think about stuff like spontaneous qigong and one time experiences of energy phenomenon that aren't verifiable? Like I had some WEIRD/cool visions and such during a psychotic episode. I don't know what you mean by "spontaneous qigong". You need to define that for me. "one time experiences of energy phenomenon that aren't verifiable" I have had numerous one-time experiences of energy phenomena and spiritual phenomena over the past 40+ years that may or may not be verifiable to outside western scientists (depending on what monitoring instruments they are using), but my experience of those energy phenomena was so total-body, natural, healthy, intelligence-raising, progressive and growth-facilitating (meaning that each experience opened up or catalyzed new growth and accelerated the development of valuable skills and potential, and directly resulted in greater and clearer understanding of what were previously "mysteries"), that I know that each one of those experiences was authentic. 1.) One experience that took place in the late 1980's was that of suddenly feeling struck by a bolt of lightening while practicing Tai Chi Form outside in a park after a particularly rough week on the job. It was my first experience of the "body-electric". 2.) Another unexpected "one-time energy phenomenon" took place about 7-8 years ago when I was invited to Push-Hands by a younger kung-fu/Tai Chi instructor in L.A. whose father is a Tai Chi master--and who was well on his way to building a stellar and unmatchable reputation of winning tournament competitions in both forms and fighting competitions, at a rate of 11 to 14 silver and gold medals per tournament. I had studied Prof. Cheng Man Ching's manner of Yang Tai Chi Chuan since from 1980 to 1992 with high-level masters Abraham Liu and Benjamin Lo (taking 12 consecutive week-long summer workshops with Mr. Lo), but had to break off from that learning that tradition for 20 years until I started studying with GM William C.C. Chen five years ago. I had not fully developed my Push-hands skill and did not have the (conscious) ability to fa-jing. However, the moment we set into our stances and this instructor and I joined hands, I instantly felt a split second of total relaxation and an effortless feeling of electric fullness, and he was bounced back and landed five full feet from where he was standing. He looked at me with amazement and puzzlement, and looked at my legs and the ground and then back upwards at me. The rest of the push-hands session was this young master trying to hard to uproot and wrestle me around. But he wasn't able to move me in fixed step sparring because he was using too much arm strength; he was able to move me a bit in moving step push-hands but never threw me. I was totally was surprised at the effortless fa-jing that seemed to have spontaneously taken place. It felt as if a higher consciousness and/or my karmic self took over, as if I was supposed to give this particular martial artist this experience of fa-jing. I was not able to replicate that pure fa-jing skill against any other practitioner or student for years afterwards--until about about one year ago, when my practice under GM William C.C. Chen started to crystallize, and I was able to consistently push people in Push-hands practice from my toes through my finger-tips with only the brain in between and no muscular force whatsoever (i.e., the thumb, fore-finger and middle fingers together). But somehow, I was able to do that totally relaxed, muscle-free fa-jing with that young master at our first meeting--about 8 years before I was able to consciously do it. At any rate, I consider that an "energy phenomenon" that i was not able to repeat for years. But it certainly was authentic because it can be verified by the second person. Or was it even that? I'm not even sure, there could be so many explanations, spiritual and scientific. Not even sure if I was just hallucinating/confused/awakening spiritually, in hindsight. Surreal is the word to describe it, rather than real. Anyways this happened two weeks ago around the time that I posted last. AS I HAD SUGGESTED: now that you have the DVDs, start the practice and discover for yourself whether the energy that you experienced 2 weeks ago is the same energy phenomena that you experience from practicing the FP Qigong. It's a simple verification. Let us know what you find out from this controlled experiment. Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Steve, Thanks for sharing this information about when Eric Isen developed his gifts of clairvoyance. Through teaching student in Australia who is also a client of his, I've come once again to appreciate and respect his very good and accurate work in diagnosing and remotely reading the precise effects of any particular medication, medical procedure, healing, modality, counseling modality, style of Yoga, or specific style of Qigong on each individual client. Yes, Eric's skill is due to having been taught Yoga correctly and having practiced Yoga correctly. Simple as that. Best, Sifu Terry

Hello Earl Grey, I'm glad to see your return to the discussion and appreciate your sharing details of your practice with friends and of how your FP Qigong practice has positively enhanced your Acupuncture & healing practices. A. "blue, red, white, and purple fireworks" upon opening your eyes after FP meds. I haven't mentioned this in many months, but as I've stated in years past: group practice of FP Qigong is very synergistic and also more prone to result in deeper meditative absorption and higher bliss. I'm delighted to hear that you've made up your own names for the basic warm-up and MSW meditations on Volume 2 of DVD. B. Later in the week, as I tend to do about a half hour of Flying Phoenix when I give people ear acupuncture, and then use Reiki, my patients told me about a penetrating warmth, and one mentioned how when closing his eyes, he saw a blue supernova ball in front of him. The FP Healing Energy can be channeled through any delivery system that one is practiced in--such as Tui Na Acupressure or Reiki. If you are practiced and cultivated in FP Qigong and have the intent to help and heal, as GM Doo Wai put it, "the Energy will come out" This also applies to the martial energy of Bok Fu Pai, which will come out spontaneously in any real self-defense situation as needed. As I've described numerous times on this thread, once a reserve of FP Qigong Healing Energy has been cultivated, the light fluorescent blue Healing Energy will spontaneously "JUMP OFF" onto another person that you have positive regard for--and with barely a touch--if that person has a health problem and is in need of healing. Finally, Earl Grey, as I've hinted at a few times in this thread: if you are married or in a relationship, be alert to what your partner might casually experience of the blue FP Healing Energy in passing. Keep up the good Healing Work! Sifu Terry Dunn

hello Blue Phoenix: Thank you for sharing your meditative vision of Guanyin. Your sharing reminded me of a number of years in my 20's when I had many spontaneous visions of Guanyin while in meditation, (consciously invoked visions, and visions (possibly visitations) of Guanyin in the dreamstate. One vision of Guanyin appearing as a pure, pure, lumionous white-white posture similar to a posture ai saw in a fine porcelain statuette of her. In the vision. the long-stemed white flower she was holding flew out of her hand, tumbled across the space-time ether and landed in my cupped hands in my lap. My reaction was joyful and puzzled. i went, "Oh, okay." That was sometime between 1976 and 1978 during my 2 years between college and graduate school. If im not mistaken white tara and quan yin are related? Im still not 100% sure about that. The Chinese revere, worship and pray to Guanyin as the goddess of mercy and compassion who brings healing, salvation and rescue. In Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, White Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose teachings/practice is used to develop and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. The Tibetans worship, invoke, channel White Tara as the "mother of liberation", who represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. Some sects of Chinese Buddhism venerate White Tara as Duōluó Púsà (多羅菩薩). So because the 2 cultures attribute different qualities to each and pray to each differently for different purposes, Guanyin and White Tara appear to be different spiritual entities. BUT: I advise that you answer this question for yourself. Go back into meditation, or higher consciousness, or prayer state, or dreamstate and visualize or otherwise invoke Guanyin, approach Her lucidly, commune with Her, and ask her if she is the same as what the Tibetans call "White Tara." Then you'll have your most reliable answer. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn

Vajra Fist, Sorry for slowness of this reply. I'm catching up on two weeks of posts, due to extremely busy time in my teaching and other business. I'm glad to hear that you have focussed your practice with Flying Phoenix Qigong in an experiment. Headaches everyday and my emotions have been all over the place, losing my temper easily when normally I'm very peaceful and try to remain compassionate in conflict. The FP practice (and another deep meditative would do the same)--has loosened the lid--of your personality's repressed anger. So no, it is not that the FP Qigong art doesn't agree with you. What does not agree with FP Qigong's integrative effects is your personality's and body's defenses against repressed anger--and the frustration underneath it, and Pain underneath the frustration, and the unmet need or wrong done that caused the original Pain. Repressed anger (and every other emotion humans are capable of feeling) coming to surface is the very normal process of integration through meditation and coming to self-awareness, or as Castaneda put it, "claiming the totality of oneself." When it surfaces, repressed anger can manifest in irritability, being super-critical of others, short-temperedness, spontaneous burst of anger and even rage. Directly anger and rage unfairly at persons and situations that might resemble but actually have nothing to do with the original primal scene of Pain creation. Just go through the surfacing emotions and whatever abreactions you need naturally go through. As Paul McCartnery sang, "Let It Be". If your losing my temper easily when normally I'm very peaceful and try to remain compassionate in conflict is to such a degree and frequency that it is harming your overall productivity and happiness--causing you to lose work, job and key relationships, etc., then I would recommend that should seek good psychological counseling to deal with the cause of the undersirable and destructive behaviors (and not just superficially talk about or try to "treat "the presenting problems). What you're going through is, to use your term: "purification". As Carl Jung put it, "There is no coming to consciousness without pain." Take care, Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. And when the night is cloudy, There is still a light that shines on me, Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.

Today, March 16, is Bodhisattva Guanyin / Avalokitesvara's birthday! Great blessing for everyone, all creatures here below. Guanyin or Guan Yin (Kuan Yin in the old Wade-Giles romanization) is an East Asian bodhisattva venerated by Mahayana Buddhists as the "Goddess of Mercy" in English who brings salvation through infinite compassion. The Chinese name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, meaning "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". She is also referred to as Guanyin Bodhisattva (traditional Chinese: 觀世音菩薩; simplified Chinese: 观世音菩萨; pinyin: Guān shì Yīn Pú Sà). Guanyin is beloved by all Buddhist traditions in a non-denominational way and can be found in some of the most important Buddhist centers in India, including the Mahabodhi Temple, Ajanta Caves and Nalanda Museum as well as most Tibetan temples under the name Chenrezig. Furthermore, Guanyin can also be found in some influential Theravada temples such as Gangaramaya and Kelaniya of Sri Lanka. In many major Buddhist temples in China, the front altar is devoted to worship of the Buddha Sakyamuni while the backside of the same wall, equally large is 100% devoted to Guanyin. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an eternally liberated spiritual being that does not have to reincarnate --who has gotten off the wheel of deaths and rebirths (the "sorry-go-round")--but chooses to return to the earth plane and human existence out of pure compassion in order to liberate everyone else. Part of the Bodhisattva vow goes: "No matter how innumerable the sentient beings, I vow to liberate them all." HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESVARA!!! Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Deltrus, You're most welcome for what you say is experiencing the Flying Phoenix Healing Energy in advance of the arrive of the DVD series. I accept your report at face value and will say to the FP community that it is not impossible or improbable. For as I've hronicled on this thread, I tuned into or tapped into and fully experienced Sri Bhagavan's Oneness Meditation deeksha energy--with its blissful activation of specific brain centers that are different in part from the brain activation brought on by FP Qigong practice-- from reading words in a text written by Eric Isen to "Tao Stillness" which T.S. had passed on to me. Since you believe that were able to get an advanced dose of FP Healing Energization, practice volumes 1 and 2 for a solid week or two and let me and the FP community know whether the effects from your practice using the DVDs is identical to the experience of the FP energy in advance. Always do a controlled experiment to make sure that any energy phenomenon that you believe you have experienced is repeatable and verifiable with practice. Enjoy your FP practice! Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Deltrus, I'm glad to hear the dvds arrived and you've jumped into them. I just sent you a PM before seeing your post at 4:14PM. Be sure to post questions on the thread about your practice should they arise. Enjoy! Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Oolong Rabbit and everyone else on this thread, Nice DB screenname, btw, Oolong! I just happened to see this thread now in the list of forums and I decided take a look... and the daobums software took me to this page where the first thing that met my eye was this post of the text on the back panel of my Chi Kung For Health DVD series teaching the Ehrmeishan Flying Phoenix Qigong. *I had posted to on this thread about Lama Dorje in 2014 when one of my Tai chi/Qigong students went for a week-long training he gave at his center in the U.K. All I know is that Lama Dorje was quite controversial at the time in the U.K. And to answer your question: NO. This would not be similar to what Max (Lama Dorje) would teach anyone. There is no Qigong art similar to Flying Phoenix Qigong. The closest thing--which isn't very close, actually-- is the Sunn Yi Gong art that is taught by my classmate, Sifu Garry Hearfield, in Sydney, Australia. There is nobody else in the world learned in "Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Kung" ("Fei Feng San Gong") or sanctioned to teach it because I am the sole preserver of this art since my teacher, Grandmaster Doo Wai retired 8 years ago. And I have not taught this art in its entirety to any of my students nor authorized any of them to teach it. (I do have a few advanced students who are nearing an instructor's certification.) Flying Phoenix Qigong is an authentic Taoist monastic Yoga that was created in the early 1600's and impeccably preserved by 6 generations of my teacher's family lineage called "Ehrmeishan Bok fu Pai"("Ehrmei Mountain White Tiger Kung Fu School"). As a stand-alone Qigong art, it is a vast system. Just the Basic Level of the art that is only partially taught by my DVD series Volumes 1 through 5, consists of 3 static standing meditations, 9 complex moving meditations, and one long and very complex moving meditation (on Volume 4)--capstone of the art and subsumes the practice of all preceding standing meditations, and 24 seated moving meditations, collectively called the "Monk Serves Wine" Meditations. These are video clips of this capstone Flying Phoenix Qigong exercise, circa 2004 and circa 2016, respectively: One of the Kung Fu systems contained in Bok Fu Pai is Ehrmei Mountain Bak Mei (White Eyebrow) Kung fu, which my classmate and friend, Sifu Garry Hearfield, in Australia is the sole preserver of. Information on Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Kung can be found here: www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html • And a lively worldwide discussion about FP Qigong practice, now in its 8th year, is on this daobums thread that was started by a enthused FP practitioner and DVD customer in Nov. 2009: http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/12639-flying-phoenix-chi-kung/page-255?hl=%20flying%20%20phoenix%20%20chi%20%20kung Ever since the initiator of the FPCK thread, "Fu_doggy" asked me to join and answer questions in 2009, I have been answering all posted questions there on a weekly basis. As of today: 4,067 posts; 516,000+ views. The reason for this longest-running thread on daobums: the Flying Phoenix Qigong system, as taught on the DVD series, produces results--and does so instantly for thousands of people, who then naturally have something to say about their practice. Thanks for quoting the back-panel text on my Chi Kung For Health DVDs in your post. Regards to all, Sifu Terence Dunn

Yeah, right.

AQ Hello Aeran and Shiva33, I'm glad to read that you've both experienced swaying/circling of the torso from the base of the spine in your practice of the "basic" FP seated meditations on Vol.2. Every complete system of Yoga from any culture will unlock this spine-related energy that has been given a name by each respective yogic culture. In Taoist Meditation, the primal energy at the base of the spine is raised and circulated by practicing "Turning of the Wheel" or "Circulation of the Light" as taught in "The Secret of the Golden Flower." With respect to this kundalini experience in FP Qigong practice: with enough practice, one will be able to discern the "awakening" and flow of the primal energy at the base of the spine as apart from coordinated or non-coordinated muscular spasms that also occur at the beginning stages of any meditation practice that accompanies general detoxification. Typically, the coiling spinal energy or kundalini is felt as an electric current, and the bodily movement that it induces are smooth and symmetrical circles and spirals...that take hold of everything from the base of the spine (if one is seated) to the top of the head. Today, was the first warm day in Los Angeles in a while 74 degrees. And I took advantage of a beautiful afternoon to do an extensive practice that reviewed 4 arts that I practice. About 1/3 of my total practice time was spent on these 3 advanced Monk Serves Wine meditations from Volume 7 (in this order): (70 50 20 10) (80 70 50 30) (60 70 40 5) I mention this practice because each of these MSW Meditations [and each and every one of the entire set of 24 seated MSW meditaions] induces a slightly different configuration of energy flow that manifests in slightly different swayings and coilings of the torso and sometimes arms. The combination of the first and last MSW meditation, I believe, caused in me very pleasant and relatively fast windings of my body from the upper chest to the top of the head (Shasrara or crown chakra)--that included circling of the head and winding of the neck. The second MSW that I did (80 70 50 30) did NOT cause any windings anywhere in the body, but proceeded to intensely "heat up" the energy in the torso at the exact levels of wherever my hands were placed or moving during this meditation. As you delve into the MSW Meditations in Volumes 2 and 7, you will discover this fact--that each meditation induces a subtly unique. sublime pattern of involuntary swaying and coiling. Besides this forecast of what fun and bliss lies ahead, I also decided to make this my opportunity to remind or teach here for the first time: That no matter how much involuntary swaying, circling and spiraling of the torso and extremities takes place and no matter how sublime, gassy, or rapturous those movements are, always return to meditation in repose with absolute stillness and make sure that in every FP practice session, you spend more time in perfect stillness than in involuntary swayings, rotations, and spiralings. The spontaneous and totally involuntary circling, no matter how rapturous, are not the point of the exercise but a passing by-product. And if one fixates of gets too attached to involuntary movements, that will impede one's yogic progress. As my favorite teacher in Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung, John Davidson, said, "Jiggly meditation will get you nowhere." If you've read this entire thread, you know how I so love to quote Hexagram 52 of the I Ching, "Keeping Still", which is an entire hexagram serving as a foundation teaching for all Chinese Yogas that expounds very clear yogic instructions and explains how correct and incorrect practice leads to healthy and unwholesome outcomes, respectively--and to correct and aberrant behavior, also respectively. KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still So that he no longer feels his body. • Never forgot that this is the essential fundamental teaching--especially for beginners. Enjoy your further explorations of "The Mystery Dance" -- the serpentine dance of your kundalini energy. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Deltrus, Enjoy the training on the DVD series when they arrive. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Aeran, Yes, Basic seated Meditation #1 is most simple in its movements but very sophisticated in terms of the yogic mechanism behind its energizing and tension-dissolving. As I posted in early years, this meditation releases deep tensions in the back and shoulder muscles--if you do a full set of 18 repetitions. When I first learned this meditation along with my classmates in 1991, the first week of semi-regular practice was uncomfortable and at times excruciatingly painful. But pain is in the resistance, and with contiuous practice, the neural and muscular pains completely subsided, ; and we were all left feeling amazed that so much unconscious pain had been stored in our backs. For as long as I can remember, I've generally described the FP Qigong system as "very basic" in terms of its ease of use (easy to learn and easy to practice) but "very advanced" in terms of his health effects. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Deltrus, Thank you for your suggestion for me to make the FP Qigong/Chi Kung For Health DVD series available through streaming platforms such as Vimeo. Yours is not the first. Next month, as soon as I get over a top-priority writing project, I will be upgrading my Vimeo account and then making the DVD series available through that site and others of similar quality. I presently have just one video on my Vimeo account: No. 8 of the Advanced Flying Phoenix series (there are 9 in total). Answer to your remaining question: 2. Do the first two DVDs contain "the essentials"? Or is the full core of FP Chi Kung contained in additional DVDs? The "essentials" of the Flying Phoenix Qigong system is the entire SYSTEM, as taught on the DVD series Vols. 1-5 and Vol.7. Since vol.4's Long Form Meditation is the CAPSTONE PRACTICE that subsumes the practice of all other FP meditations, one might make a stretch and say that the "essentials" are all contained in that exercise. But the practice taught on Vol.5 and Vol.7 are not contained nor subsumed by Vol.4's Long Form. if one practices Vol.5 and Vol.7 after learning the Long Form Standing med. on Vol.4, one will derive energizing and rejuvenating benefits NOT imparted by the Long Form Standing Meditation. Remember that FP Qigong is a complete and authentic Taoist monastic Qigong SYSTEM. Any QIGONG worth practicing for strong immunity, freedom from disease, and longevity, typically has to be a System. I'm glad to see in the cross-outs in your post that you found the answer to those questions within yourself. But even though you crossed it out, I will answer anyway your question or comment about practicing FP Qigong to good effects int he evening, going to sleep, and then waking up with: my whole body is in disharmony and my qi feels like it hangs up at many different spots, moves slow, and doesn't flow smoothly. And my whole body feels uncomfortable. The condition that you wake up with maybe signs of healing going on in your sleep that you are not even feeling nor aware of during your waking hours. FP Qigongs Healing Energy never rests. Once it is cultivated, it permeates the body looking for dis-ease and time-bound pains to unravel and dis-corporate. OR the uncomfortable symptoms you are feeling may be what's going on in your body all the time and the FP Qigong's conditioning has enabled you to feel the "energy hang ups" and "disharmony." Actually, you need to give a more detailed and precise description of the symptoms you are waking up with. You can do a workup / energy diagnosis with me via Skype online. How long does the uncomfortable condition, disharmony and "hung-up energy" last after you wake in the morning? Does it continue throughout your day? Does it go away after you have breakfast or any meal? Does it go away every time you practice FP Qigong? if that is the case, then practice more--LOTS MORE-- until the negative symptoms are gone. ..or you can consult with someone like medical clairvoyant Eric Isen, who is extremely competent and accurate. You can also have Eric remotely read what effects--healthy or unhealthy--various Meditation arts,Yogas and exercises like FP Qigong will have on you specifically. You sound quite down on yourself for I'm not sure what. You imply a falling short on discipline, focus, perserverance in practicing FP Qigong? You state that you've made good progress already. Good. But then you wrongly say that: "There is no point of mastery. I'm an infinite distance from where I was, and an infinite distance from what is possible." Mastery is indeed the point...along with all the positive benefits that come on that path towards it--no matter how "infinitely far" you believe mastery is from your present skill level. Continue your practice by any means possible. Because a master is simply someone who started before you did and kept going. Don't let the uncomfortable morning feelings of disharmony or what you describe as having fallen down 1,000 times discourage you from practicing to attain harmony, strength, high energy, vibrant energy flow, mental clarity, spiritual wisdom, and bliss. As Bodhidarma taught the Shaolin community that he founded: "To fall down seven times is to arise and eighth. Life begins from NOW." Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. This art needs to be preserved and transmitted to future generations. Why do you think I am on this thread every week? I'm constantly encouraging FP Practtioners to go further, practice more and get to the point of perfect retention of the entire FP Qigong SYSTEM, knowing every FP Meditation inside and out, and learning how to heal with the FP Energy. www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hello Cihan, I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a hard and discouraging time trying to assume the half-lotus position. I have a couple of students who find it impossible to sit in half-lotus or even cross-legged. So the next best thing is to do the seated MSW meditations while sitting in a chair with the feet flat on the floor. There is, however, a way to condition oneself to be able to do the half-lotus position. And that is a long and rigorous regimen of daily stretching over many months that an advanced kung fu teacher, advanced Qigong teacher, advanced yoga teacher , or advanced ballet teacher can teach you. I have developed over the past 42 years an extensive and elaborate stretching program consisting of 30+ stretching and postural exercises that can run 90 minutes and more. In order to be able to assume the half-lotus one has to develop flexibility in all the muscles and ligaments found in the legs, groin, hips, sacrum, lower back, and in many cases in the shoulders, chest, upper neck and the occipital region at the base-of-the-skull--so that one can come close to doing a front (Japanese) split and the side (Amerian) split. One one is loose enough to do respectable side split and a front split, then one should be able to sit in a half-lotus. An extensive stretching program such as what I teach can be tough and challenging, but where there's a will there is a way...to the half-lotus. If you are interested in getting private online tutorials in my stretching regimen, consisting of some 40 classical stretching exercises, let me know through PM. Good Luck. Sifu Terry www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html