zen-bear

BluePhoenix, 'Glad that you found the "sleeper" Meditation on Volume 7: 50 20 10. I just happened to glance at a question raised on Page 95 of the thread asking for clarification on my instruction in the DVD Volumes 2 and 7 of seven repetitions (because I said on the DVD to do the exercise(s) at least seven times.) Repeat: all the seated Monk Serves Wine meditations in the FP Qigong system are done seven times. One does the breath control sequence only one time. Then this is followed by seven repetitions of the pre-choreographed movements. Throughout my years of practicing FP Qigong, I have on occasion done more than 7 repetitions of a MSW meditation with no negative effects. Enjoy the practice. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

This evening, in my FP Qigong class, I taught the following 40-minute warm-up module consisting of 1. Cloud hands in bow stance, both sides - 12 minutes 2. Tao Tan Pai "Power Yoga" consisting of: a. Circling Palms (2 sets of 8) b. Tao Tan Pai 2nd exercise c. Tao Tan Pai 3rd exercise d. Tao Tan Pai seated meditation No. 16 (Buddha's seat). --followed by this sequence of FP Meditations: A. Seated "Warm-up" Meditation 50 30 10 (5 min.) B. Seated "Warm-up" Meditation 5 60 80 40 30 (12 min.) C. Monk Gazing At Moon (7 min.) D. Monk Holding Peach (7 min.) E. Bending the Bows (15 min.) F. Wind Above the Clouds (5 min.) G. Monk Serves Wine seated Meditation 90 80 50 20 ("the waker upper")--7 rounds. (15 min.) Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

This morning, halfway through my Sat. Tai Chi Class, I inserted this 20- minute FP Qigong break that enhanced the practice considerably: One round each of: Wind Above the Clouds Wind Through Treetops Moonbeam Splashes on Water Before break: 2 rounds of GM William C.C. Chen's 60-part Yang Form. 1 round Yang Long Form After FP break: 4 rounds of Yang Straight Sword Form 30 min. Tui-shou. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Ace, Turnaround on DVD orders is very quick: 2 to 4 days max. We typically ship them the day we receive the order. International orders take 4-8 days. Thanks for your interest. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Bruce, Yes, I teach both Tao Tan Pai and FP Qigong as well as other arts via Skype. No, it is impossible to use Skype of FaceTime without a webcam and computer or webcam and tablet. As a possible solution: most if not all public libraries in U.S. cities have desktop PC's that you can use freely or rent cheaply by the hour--which can be used to Skype, if you don't violate the libraries' sound-making rules. Tao Tan Pai has the following levels: Basic Kung Fu Forms (includes weapons) Advanced Kung Fu Forms (includes weapons) Basic 31 TTP Meditations Shen Exercises Nine Flowers Six Stars Five Dragons In order to learn the last 3 levels (top 3 levels)--9 Flowers, 6 Stars, 5 Dragons--one must master the Basic TTP 5 Animal Kung Fu Forms and the Basic 31. Sifu Terence Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

And speaking of the "unveiled face...": Over the past 3+ years, quite a number of FP practitioners before and after they came to Los Angeles to get personal instruction from me in Flying Phoenix Qigong—and also one, I recall, who posted his confession on this thread--came clean and unveiled the fact that they had been practicing the FP Qigong using downloaded copies of the Chi Kung For Health DVD programs from pirate websites. In due course, they purchased the DVD’s from me and then I proceeded to teach them. And after another couple of confessions that just came in this month, I'm finally prompted to take this opportunity to post a (no-brainer) reminder about basic morality to everyone following this thread and interested in the practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong. [This reminder includes copyrighted excerpts (in bold or italics or both) from my forthcoming book on FP Qigong:] There is an old Chinese saying: "When the wrong man uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way." And this universal truth about human nature and man's karma certainly applies to the practice of a spiritually transformative yogic art such is Flying Phoenix Qigong or any complete Chinese internal art. Similarly, this adage was coined by my most influential senior school brother (Da-Sihing) in the Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method) Kung Fu, the late Kung Fu Master John Davidson: "The wrong person even with the right knowledge will come to no good end. But the right person even with the wrong (or incomplete) knowledge will make it work." Thus honesty is the prime prerequisite for Flying Phoenix Qigong to work property--besides being an absolute necessity to make one’s life work, go smoothly and to progress on any spiritual path (as opposed to creating bad karma and allowing them to mount into karmic debts). This is so fundamentally true in all authentic Yogic traditions, spiritual paths, civilized societies, and life in general that it should never have to be mentioned. But due to the worldwide reach of this blogsite, and the greedy hunger for occult knowledge by neophytes--baby brujo’s and baby bruja’s out there, as well as hardened witches and warlocks, and the great temptations of the present digital age causing generations new and old to feel entitled to steal and pilfer information of all kinds from expensively produced media products that have been made available on pirate websites, I’ve decided to spell out the simple and obvious truth about practicing honesty this one time. The following is an array of some of my favorite Eastern proverbs that spell out in vivid detail the reasons why one should be honest in one’s day to day life…and conquer the temptation to break the Eighth Commandment (--in this case by using pirated copies of the Flying Phoenix Qigong DVD’s or any other commercial program, and for that matter, including published music--and thereby deprive their creators--including yours truly-- of a meager livelihood based on recouping the value of their hard creative work and financial investments). I. This first section are relevant "elegant sayings" by the great Tibetan yogin Nargajuna explaining how and why it is so grossly inefficacious and ultimately futile to try to exploit Knowledge acquired by theft: Meditation without Knowledge, though giving results for awhile, Will, in the end, be devoid of true success; One may melt gold and silver completely, But once the fire be gone they grow hard again. • As for accumulating one Qigong exercise after another and then attempting to acquire one Qigong system after another on one's own, without the guidance of a superior teacher: Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, How can it be rendered clean and pure If it be washed in after which is dirty? • You can be either sacred or profane in your practices. There is nothing in between!!] The Supreme Path of Altruism is a short-cut, Leading to the Realm of Conquerors,-- A track more speedy than that of a racing horse;** The selfish, however, know naught of it. Flying Phoenix Qigong itself is such an easy-to-do practice yet so powerful a spiritual catalyst; imagine how much more speedy a track one creates towards Understanding by combining it with the altruistic life. Then imagine how retarded and regressive a long-cut one's path becomes if one chooses greed over altruism. The karmic repercussions of living by lies instead of truth are described in Taoist, Chan Buddhist and Tibetan Buddhist scriptures with colorfully accurate similes: "To know the moral precepts and not apply them to the cure of obscuring passions is to be like a diseased man carrying a bag of medicine which he never seeth; and this is a grievous failure." "To live hypocritically produces self-imposed trouble as doth a person who putteth poison in his own food." "Man excelleth the beast by engaging in religious practices. So why should a man, if he be without religion, not be equal to the beast?" "Shamelessly to misappropriate offering which have been dedicated to the guru or to the Trinity (the Buddhist trinity is the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (priesthood)) produces self-imposed trouble as doth a child swallowing live coals." This last proverb is a most relevant warning here because: (A) Flying Phoenix Qigong is a spiritual art with divine origins that came through Feng Tao Teh and the monastic tradition at Ehrmeishan. The profoundly supramundane healing effects of Flying Phoenix make it so obviously this type of a divine gift from Heaven to man; most FP practitioners find it very hard to imagine that this marvelous yogic art was created by a human being. (B ) Flying Phoenix Qigong was given and blessed to humanity by Grandmaster Doo Wai (through yours truly) after being kept secret within his family lineage for six generations. © As a most powerful healing and meditation Dharma in and of itself, it can further all Dharmas--Taoist, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu... all Dharmas. Sifu Terence Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Today, in paying tribute on Facebook to the late Reverend Gardner C. Taylor, a great voice in American civil rights, who passed away this past Sunday at the age of 96, I came across on Youtube his sermon on 2 Corinthians 3:18, in which the Apostle St. Paul subtly transmits a very esoteric yoga method that we practice in Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung: But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. -- 2 Corinthians 3:18 Rest in Peace, Reverend Taylor http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rev-gardner-c-taylor-preacher-and-civil-rights-leader-dies-at-96/2015/04/06/f1373b1a-dc69-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html?wprss=rss_local https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIGdkSRV1UcALN40nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByZjF2ZHFmBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDNw--?p=Rev.+Gardner+C.+Taylor&vid=55b66f87fb721dc168ddc03e36c14ff9&l=5%3A23&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608017084435073109%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DO9NJmjIwt7E&tit=Dr.+Gardner+C.+Taylor+%28From+Glory+To+Glory+Part+II%29&c=6&sigr=11btkqjfj&sigt=11jaicrmk&sigi=11risqtb4&age=1253034297&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&hsimp=yhs-fh_ds&hspart=GenieoYaho&tt=b

Hi ZiRan, Thank you for posting your recent experiences with FP Qigong over your ten months of practice. Here are my comments (in blue italic) on your comments: Sifu Terry said in the beginning to find the particular meditation you were drawn to and practice it first. For me, this was the 3rd MSW warmup. I still do that any time throughout the day I just need to get out of my routine and breathe a little bit. I guess I've done that one more than any of the others.Great that you found that one of the MSW Warm-ups to be a favorite. As all practitioners eventually find out, simply by continuing to practice the FP Qigong system regularly, the "warm-up" meditations in Volume 2 are not that "basic" at all. IN comparison to so much--way too much--of the made-up stuff/ bad calisthenics peddled out there as "Qigong". The Warm-Up Meditations in Vol.2 are light years ahead in terms of having healthful and rejuvenating effect. On a couple of occasions, I have experienced the visual sensations of blue light against my closed eyelids others have talked about. One time I got the distinct impression I was looking at a blue ball of fire hovering over the surface of water. It was quite beautiful, and I must confess I've probably spent too much energy wishing for more conspicuous signs like this one.Congratulations on seeing the blue FP Healing Energy. Sooner or later, for all practitioners, it (seeing the phenomenon) comes. But because it is a subjective experience, however repeatable by each practitioner, we cannot discuss it until one has experienced it. Perhaps down the road, if enough practitioners have the time, we can start a separate discussion thread on "Seeing the Blue", which would explore all the healing effects that come with that seeing. The 50-20-10 MSW is indeed great for sleep! When I practice that one very slowly, I sleep amazingly well and wake up with an almost sensuous feeling of being blanketed in vital energy. This often lasts well into the afternoon. Yes, indeed, the 50-20-10 was appropriately nicknamed by me as "The Sleeper". The fact that induces deep, restful sleep is verified by everyone who has practiced it. I'm impressed that your practice in only 10 months has reached the point where that soothing, sensuous, and blissful experience of the body's self-healing process lasts well into your afternoons. The ideal form of practice is one that attains and maintains a constant state of energized higher consciousness. Moonbeam Splashes on the Water is out of this world. I don't know how else to describe it. With all of the meditations I've learned, the first few times practicing it were slightly awkward, and then around the 4th time I would "find my groove." Then, it was easier to slow down, and the moves would kind of do themselves (to borrow a phrase from another poster). But Moonbeam took that to another level entirely. The second time I did it, it was like time slowed down. The moves were just so smooth and effortless, it was like the meditation was doing me (keep the snickering to a minimum, please). ZiRan, congrats again. Your practice of "Moonbeam Splashes on Water" has been correct and effective... for what you've experienced--the feeling of time slowing down to the point of being in no-time-- is what Castaneda calls "stopping the world." It is the state of clear, one-pointed consciousness strived for by all mediation/yoga traditions in the world, most popularly described in the West in terms of the Zen or Chan Buddhist literary traditions. That you have experienced what you have described through the practice of "Moonbeam" lets me know that you have very clear, unobstructed energy flow along your spine, from the sacrum to the crown of the head. Now you know why the Indian yogic traditions calls that center the "crown chakra." **And to be quite honest, I have been waiting patiently for months for FP practitioners to report precise and definitive effects from their practice of "Moonbeam Splashes on Water." Yours is the first authentic report verifying proficiency in this exercise in 5.25 years of this thread. So that is why I am saying, "Congratulations!"!! Concomitant and requisite with "stopping the world" is practicing "Moonbeam" in accord with the Tai Chi maxim for form practice: "the mind moves the chi, and the chi moves the body." This process of frictionless movement is the goal of form practice in Flying Phoenix, Tai Chi Chuan, Liu He Ba Fa, and all Chinese internal martial arts. Attaining the level of practice where you cannot tell whether it is you doing it (the form) or it doing itself through you is of wonderful and profound significance because it causes you to consider who the "real" You is. Having practiced "Moonbeam" to this sublime automatic state means that you have set foot on your "ground of being"--and I DON'T MEAN poor ol' Paul Tillich's "ground of being"!! Rather, this is the state of a Yoga "well done"--and the true functional meaning of the term, "kung-fu"--as described by my favorite western philosopher-alchemist: Consciousness is a symptom of dis-ease. All that move well moves without will. All skillfulness, all strain, all intention is contrary to ease. Practice a thousand times, and it becomes difficult; A thousand thousand, and it becomes easy; a thousand thousand times a thousand thousand, and it is no longer Thou that doeth it, but It that doeth itself through thee. Not until then is that which is done well done. Aleister Crowley, 1913, Founder, Ordo Templi Orientis This is going to be a strange comparison, but the effects of Moonbeam are almost like a drug. I've had no experiences with drugs in my life, other than a prescription painkiller I was given after surgery several years ago. I was researching the effects of the drug class (it was an opioid), and the wikipedia page said that one of the reasons people became addicted to them was that they produced "an intense feeling of well-being." And when I took them after my surgery, I understood what they meant. Thankfully, I've had no need for any more surgery, so that feeling of "intense well-being" was repeated for the first time while I was practicing Moonbeam. It felt like a drug. I became acutely aware of my circulatory system, and imagined some strange new chemical process working its way through my veins and arteries. If I become addicted to this shen gong, I'm happy to consider myself an addict! Moonbeam produces feelings in me of peace, bliss, altitude, and just a sense that everything is perfect exactly as it is.Not a strange comparison at all, ZiRan: Yes, proper practice of FP Qigong will sooner or later impart the feeling of "intense well-being". All authentic Qigong will develop in one the state of optimal self-healing and perfect mind-body and man-Universe harmony where one cannot believe how good it feels to be alive. A good term for this condition is "bliss". (Unfortunately, of course, if you've lived as long as I have [i.e., through the 1980's and that idiotic New Age barnyard, the term "bliss" has been hackneyed to the point of meaninglessness.] But thanks to FP Qigong in your case, you now know what "bliss" means! In contrast to your background, I had plenty of experience with drugs throughout my adolescence and college years--being one of the baby-boomer generation. Fortunately, my experience (starting in college) with simple meditation and with authentic Qigong systems such as Flying Phoenix Qigong and Tao Tai Pai Neikung naturally imparted states of BLISS and transcendental states of consciousness that no drug-induced experience from my past can ever hold a candle to in terms of enjoyment, physical well-being, At-Onement, and All-knowing, what some yogins starting in the 1960's called Cosmic Consciousness. (In fact, during the 80's when cocaine was everywhere in this country, my practice back then of Tao Tan Pai Nei-kung was so cleansing bio-chemically (and so polishing spiritually) that indulging in cocaine whenever it was offered, did absolutely nothing for me. Absolutely nothing. So after about 5-6 totally bland and unremarkable experiences, I declined it every time it was offered. And I happened to have been given the highest quality stuff by my musician friends.) ​While it was unfortunate that you had to have surgery to repair your injury, the silver lining there is that you have that pain-killer drug experience to compare and contrast your FP Qigong-induced physical states and meditative states of consciousness to. FP practice is a most healthy "addiction" and it is something that you can never do too much of. One's mind-body will continue to evolve with FP practice throughout one's lifetime. One can reach a state of practice where just by doing the breath-control sequences--without the postures or movements--will access the reserve of FP Healing Energy accumulated throughout one's years of practice. **Yes, FP Qigong can be described as a "Shen kung"--at intermediate and advanced levels of practice. I continue to refer to FP Qigong as a medical Qigong method because "Shen kung" in the Tao Tan Pai tradition are very specific exercises that cultivate the "Shen" or psychic awareness--or the pure speculative aspect of action. And TTP is renowned in the Chinese martial arts world for its heavy emphasis on Shen development. Proper FP practice, as you've experienced, does lead to highly cultivated Shen Chi. In conclusion: Well done, Moonbeam Addict ZiRan! Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. Happy Easter to all. www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Am on Day 11 of practicing three Monk Serves Wine seated meditations in one session each morning followed by another 90 minutes of standing FP, Advanced FP, 8 Sections of Energy, or 10,000 Buddhas Meditations. Of the 3 MSW meditations, two of them are my favorites from Vol.7: 80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10. Each time, the palpable brain activation is off the charts and it lasts through most of the day. Prescription for beginners who want to become intermediate practitioners: practice all the FP Standing meditations and Vol.4's Long Form Standing until you have perfected them. Then do 3 seated MSW Meds during each practice session. Practice doesn't have to be every day (although optimal!) but do 3 MSW meditations every session after you have become proficient in the Long Form Standing Meditation and you will begin to crack the code of FP Qigong and realize what you can do with the FP Healing Energy. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hello Ace, Answer to your first question: I can only speak with authority on the specific benefits of FP Qigong training in relation to Tai Chi Chuan training because I have never trained in Hsing-I Chuan but have trained exactly 34 years in both Yang Tai Chi Chuan and Liu He Ba Fa: FP Qigong has equal emphasis on the relaxation principle relative to Tai Chi training, uses similar postures, involves similar circular movements, but goes far beyond any Tai Chi training method I know of with its emphasis on super-slow movement throughout all of it moving meditations--"approaching the speed of a shifting sand dune," as GM Doo Wai's oral teaching goes. Thus proper FP Qigong practice will accelerate one's progress in Tai Chi Chuan and any similar Chinese internal martial art. Answer to your 2nd question re benefits of FP Qigong in relation to external kung fu systems (which you describe Wing Chun and No. Praying Mantis as): I can only say in general that FP Qigong wound benefit the practice of any authentic Kung Fu system. As i stated earlier in this thread, FP Qigong was the very first discipline taught to GM Doo Wai as a "safety net" by his father when he was a youth, which prepared him for learning all the other complete kung fu arts under the Bok Fu Pai family name: Bok Fu Pai, Omei Mountain Bak Mei, Tibetan Burning Palm, all the BFP healing arts and its vast pharmacopeia, and all the other BFP internal systems such as Sunn Yee Gung and Ten Thousand Buddhas Meditations. Knowing what great Kung Fu systems Bok Fu Pai, Omei Mtn Bak Mei, and Tibetan Burning Palm are (Sifu Garry Hearfield is the inheritor and primary preserver of these 3 arts from GM Doo Wai, btw), I can say that Flying Phoenix Qigong would nicely complement any "external" Kung Fu system. (btw, I do not consider Wing Chun nor No. Praying Mantis to be "external" systems, because every high-level practitioner of these systems that I have seen in person has demonstrated high internal energy cultivation.) Welcome to the FP practice community. Be sure to post any questions or comments you might have on the thread. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

• Last Saturday, after a jam-packed 100-minute Tai Chi class (in which taught William Chen's 60-posture Form, straight sword and broadsword forms), I led my students in practice in these more advanced FP Meditations from Volume 7 (full sets of 7 repetitions) and gave extensive corrections to their form: A. 50 20 10 ("the Sleeper") B. 70 50 20 10 C. 80 70 50 30 D. 20 40 90 10 E. the 22-movement long seated Monk Serves Wine mediation (not on DVD). The goal of continuously doing one moving mediation after another is to reach that sweet spot of "Not-doing" where practice feels automatic and absolutely effortless--no longer something that you with complete volitional control command your and not, on the other hand, something that life does to you. But something in perfectly between. That is what Castaneda means by "Not Doing." •••This morning, in keeping with my daily practice of 3 seated FP (Monk Serves Wine) and an equal timespan spent on standing meditations from any of 3 systems--all in addition to 90 minutes of Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu practice, I did the following FP Seated Meditations (full 7 rounds in each set): 1. 80 70 50 30 (Vol.7) 2. 70 50 20 10 (Vol.7) 3. 22-movement FP Seated Mediation (not on DVD) 4. the 14th Monk Serves Wine meditation (not on DVD) 5. Bending the Bows 6. Monk Holding Peach 7. Advanced FP Standing Meditations 1 through 9 (40 minutes) 8. Eight Sections Combined, 3rd, 4th and 8th Sections. The goal of training is to always be in meditation--walking, working, sitting, sleeping. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Charlie, Doing the Long Form Standing Med. in 25 minutes is a very healthful speed. Good Work. Advanced Seated Meds. in the evening--as you may have already discovered--imparts a huge constellation of health benefits that first manifests during the sleep cycle as well as one's waking hours. Sounds like you're enjoying the FP. Best, Sifu Terry

Hi Sean, I'm glad I saw your thread proposing cross-pollination. here is my long-standing site, up since the late 90's: www.taichimania.com (It needs a new homepage and I will include a link to TDB when I have it designed.) I also have another one which I launched in 2010, which for years has had a link to TDB. But it's down for major overrhaul and I will send you the link when it goes back online. Best, Terry Dunn

-RLDawson I say keep practicing the other FP exercises and then come back and see if there is an affect later. Definitely find out for yourself and don't take anyone's word for it. --TF Thanks to you both for posting your common experience. The Flying Phoenix Chi Kung transformative effects can be felt almost immediately, but it's lasting, long-term health and longevity effects, and power to heal others require dedicated practice and most importantly, correct practice of THIS ENTIRE BODY OF YOGA--i.e., all the exercises. Again, this system wasn't made up by yours truly or my teacher, GM Doo Wai. It was created more than 8 generations ago by a towering yogic genius at Ehrmeishan. You've read Sifu Garry Hearfield's post here and on the Sunn Yi Gung thread that both systems, Flying Phoenix and SYG, are vast treasures. And I'll take this opportunity to translate and apply part of the Bok Fu Pai creed: "What appears to be only a brick (i.e., an FP exercise that you think at first doesn't suit you), is actually gold." This oral teaching is reminder not to overlook anything in the FP system that has been handed down (and impeccably at that) from the time of Feng Tao Teh. As I've taught regularly on this thread, beginners should "take the path of least resistance" and start out practicing those FP Meditations that resonate the most with them, that they find most agreeable and beneficial. And then gradually add on the others to their training schedule. BUT--and this is a big BUT: FP practitioners must get around to practicing and establishing all the meditations as presented in the DVD series--and then perfect the standing Long Form Med. on Volume 4. Otherwise, you've just gotten a smattering of this treasure. Glad to hear TF has not been sick all winter! Good Practicing to All! Sifu Terry Dunn

JinlinaPai, "San Da" is the Chinese term that translates into "spiritual martial art" in English. In the first context, my intended meaning is that the energy employed by the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong is not limited only to the energy produced by human physiology, but also involves supra mundane, macrocosmic energies. *In this first context, I was not referring or alluding to ritualized spiritual possession, which was what I was referring to in the second context: In the second context, when I mentioned Huashan San Da, I was referring to the practice of spiritualism where the monks of that Taoist sect perform sacred oaths by which they invite their temple guardian spirit to enter their bodies at will in exchange for supernatural martial skill and powers--not super-normal powers, but supernatural powers. Sifu Terence Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Charlie, Thank you for that weekend wish for being momentously present! I don't know, Charlie, the change snuck by me over what period of time--I have no idea! But it seems that Taobums--I mean Daobums--management has switched their romanization preference from Wade-Giles to pinyin. I'm a traditionalist in some respects and a modern in others, but I prefer the older Wade-Giles spelling. Best, Sifu Terry

This morning, after Tao Tan Pai training and practice of nine Advanced FP Standing Meditations, I did these three Advanced FP (Monk Serves Wine) seated mediations from Vol.7: (70 50 20 10), (60, 70, 40 5) and (20 40 90 10). This confirmed for myself once again that steady, continuous practice of 3 seated FP Meditations (7 repetitions each) will activate certain brain centers, "push the brain back" and and kick-in the body's self-healing functions. All this is experienced "on top of" or concomitant with transcendently deep absorption--beyond all states of mind-- that Indian traditions call samadhi. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Julian, Either method that you described would be effective in introducing someone interested in meditation to meditation. However, I always like to start with basics. And as I've stated earlier in the thread, quiet sitting is ALL-IMPORTANT. No matter what yogas you do--whether Indian, Chinese, Tibetan, Egyptian, Persian, Toltec, etc.-- you must do quiet sitting. So I always start absolute beginners off with quiet sitting meditation. (This is easy and natural for me because Tao Tan Pai Neikung was the first system that I learned starting in 1974, and within the first level of TTP practice, called the Tao Tan Pai 31 (aka, Cloud Hands), there are about 4 static seated meditations [and 10 seated meditations with movements] that we used to do for long periods of time.) Not just Tao Tan Pai, but Chinese meditation in general begins with quiet sitting, as reflected in the I Ching: 52. Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga. THE JUDGMENT KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still So that he no longer feels his body. He goes into his courtyard And does not see his people. No blame.True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life. The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes. Once the beginner has learned to sit quietly. You can introduce him/her to any of the basic FP Meditations on Volume 1 and 2, which will only deepen the level of physical relaxation, mind-body integration, and mental absorption. The contrast between quiet sitting meditation and any of the 3 Warm-up Meditations--and certainly with the 3 Monk Serves Wine meditations in Volume 2--is most profound and usually quite a revelation to anyone who meditates. *Also, in addition to the seated FP Meditations on Volume 2, you can have him or her do Monk Holding Pearl (50 40 30 20 10) in seated half lotus position with hands resting at the tan tien. (This is a key teaching and extra bonus meditation on Volume 1). Enjoy teaching your friend. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Cihan, I'm glad to hear you've designed a nice combination of FP meditations that effects very deep meditation for you and are experiencing "awesome" light effects. There really aren't' adequate words to describe these effects--gives true meaning to the word ineffable. I encourage everyone to develop and discover their own unique, optimal practice formula within the FP system. btw, has anyone close to you in proximity but who does NOT practice FP Qigong ever experienced the light effects while you were in meditation? In other words, Cihan, be open to the possibility of these light effects expanding or connecting to someone meditating close by. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Glad to hear that you're enjoying your practice of the Vol.7 advanced Monk Serves Wine meditations. Yes, pairing of the second and the third is most enjoyable and also tangibly rejuvenating in many ways. Taking one hour to slowly practice the two Meds. 7x each is ideal. I did the same pairing 3 mornings in a row last week--in a practice that began with second basic MSW on Vol.2 (50 40 30 10) and ending with the "waker-upper" (90 80 50 20). Best, Sifu Terry

Thanks for the tip on the Qinway tea, Steve. As that POSITIVE review comes from Eric Isen, I will place an order very soon. Best, Sifu Terry

Hi Charlie, Just catching up with everyone's excellent posts after slogging through this mercury retrograde motion. I'm glad to hear that you've been doing the Long Form Meditation (Vol.4) in mirrored manner. That should at least double the "fun" and quadruple the Inner Peace ! Best, Sifu Terry

Hi TF, Glad to hear that your discovering that the "basic" FP Meditations in the early volumes are not so "basic"!! And glad to hear that you are dreaming lucidly as a nice--rather wonderful--side-effect. That's one of the many profoundly interesting and enjoyable features of the FP Qigong system: (1) All the FP Meditations are synergistic and work with one another. It doesn't matter what order you learn them--so long as you eventually cover and establish all of them in your practice. (2) Most importantly is that one establish the Long Form Standing Meditation (Vol.4) practice. As stated from the beginning of this thread back in 2009, the Long Form Med. called "Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation" subsumes the practice of all the other shorter FP Meditations in Vols. 1-3 and 5, but it also further activates all them (standing and seated). Enjoy your practice! Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Ben, You had posted this at the top of this page, which is one of my more succinct elaborations: ...high yogas like Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Chi Meditations have been used to promote perfect health in the process of conditioning and empowering the practitioner to maintain this samadhic state--and experience the ever-present reality of union within form." Yogins east and west have universally called this experience "Oneness." Best, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Rob, Glad to hear that you like Moonbeam Splashes on Water and also discovered that it pairs nicely with the Vol.4 Long Form Meditation. It certain does. It offers nice conditioning in many respects that makes the Vol.4 Long Form Meditation that much easier to do and that much more enjoyable. But it also develops outstanding evasion reflex skills for martial arts. If practiced perseveringly, Moonbeam's lessons are very powerful and profoundly practical. To use the boxing term, it helps you get "weaved out." Enjoy! Sifu Terry Dunn