zen-bear

Hello Cihan, Thanks for your post and sharing your experience with the Flying Phoenix Long Meditation. If you have pretty good form from Tai Chi or other internal practice, you can feel instant energizing effects from the FP Qigong. And many people with no experience whatsoever, if they happen to "hit" the basics of FP form correctly, also get fast results. Answers: (1) Once you do the breath-control sequence at the start, you just breath naturally as you do the Long Meditation. As long as your breathing is relaxed, let it go however it wants to go. If it spontaneously switches to reverse breathing, great. Just don't consciously force any particular way of breathing. (2) Vibrating limbs and rotating body mass -- are common, almost universal effects of FP practice. If you want to enjoy the spontaneous movements that arise from practicing this form, you can take 3 breathes to end the practice and then just enjoy the energized state. Don't worry the energy and spiralling effects won't go away instantly. But the best thing to do as far as proper training is concerned is to work through the spontaneous spirally and rotating movements. You want to internalize all the vibratory effects--including wide and sometimes wild rotations of waist and upper body--and continue with the movements. The more you practice the form in its entirety and concentrate on keeping to the form and development greater relaxation in your performance of the form, the more you will internalize the energy of the vibratory state. Ultimately, the cultivation of the FP energy you will not cause your physical body to visibly shake as much. The circulation of the FP energy causes the body to spontaneously vibrate, shake and rotate from knees and waist upward through the rest of the body if (A) there is a relative degree of tension in the body and (B ) also if there is a lot of neuro-muscular memory developed from the practice of other martial arts. (When I was learning the FP system and other internal martial systems from GM Doo Wai in the early 90's, most of the students had substantial martial arts backgrounds. That led to the frequent experience of each new meditation taking us off on a carnival ride--intense vibrations, uncontrollable "bouncing", and wide rotations of the body mass that sent us reeling and bouncing across the room. But with more practice, the involuntary movements subsided. The same is true for the FP system, although the initial involuntary movements and gyrations that it causes are not as intense or dramatic as other internal exercises in the White Tiger family.) Glad to hear your're enjoying the Long Meditation. Doing it twice a day is excellent. Then whenever you go back and try the basic standing meditations (e.g., in Vol. 1) you will feel that the effects of these exercises will have become more profound. Best, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Growant, It's up to you. And it depends on your meditative focus and degree of cultivation. Either way is fine. You can do Monk Gazing At Moon for one hour straight by doing the breath-control sequence once at the start. Or you can break it up into 10 or 15 minute sessions, doing the breathing sequence at the start of each segment (and ending each segment with 3 deep breathes, of course). If you stand MGAM for 1 hour, make sure your form is correct. I normally teach students to do long standings (of 1 hour or so) of the FP exercises every once in a while. 15 to 30 minutes for each of the stationary standing meditations on a daily basis is adequate for good cultivation. I recommend practicing the FP system in its entirety as much as you can, combining the stationary meditations with the moving meditations. Keep it all in balance. Enjoy, Sifu Terry Dunn

hello Ralis, I think I explained in a much earlier post that the Tai Chi Ruler is a complete system of Qigong that utilizes a wooden ruler in the symmetrial shape and rounded at the ends to fit in the palms. The movements of the TC Ruler system are all circular and are related to Tai Chi movements. The Flying Phoenix Qigong uses no implements and has a totally different breathing method than Tai Chi Ruler. The two systems have different origins and are part of totally different traditions: The TC Ruler is attributed to Chen Tuan or Chen Xi Yi who resided at Wudangshan and then later at Huashan and who lived during the Sung dynasty. Chen Xi Yi is also the creator of Liu He Ba Fa, Six Harmonies & Eight Methods, one of my favorite systems. Flying Phoenix and the rest of the White Tiger Kung Fu system was created by Feng Tao Teh of Emei Shan, who I believe lived several centuries after Chen Tuan passed. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Loann, 1.) For the moving meditations in Vol. 3, you can just do one repetition of each. Or if you want more results, you can do as many reps as you want. For example, 2 weekends ago, I taught as additional warm-=up in my Saturday class about 3 rounds of Vol.3 Form, "Moonbeam Splashes on Water". Each time you do a repetition, you need to the breathing control sequence at the beginning. For these two exercises, you do NOT do the breath control sequence once and then do repetitive rounds of the form. 2.) For the standing exercises of Vol.1, follow the you practice each meditation 5 to 15 minutes each as instructed. If you want to stretch the practice of "Monk Gazing At Moon", for example, you can do that standing meditation for one hour if you have the displine. If you want to repeat each 15-minute round of practice of each exercise, for example, and do so as many times as you like and have time for. With each 15 minute round, you perform the breath-control sequence at the beginning once. *As I stated in earlier posts, FP Qigong is perfectly safe and you can never "O.D." on its practice.* 3.) Regarding your experience with the seated meditations of Volume 2: I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with that practice. Of course, I cannot tell if you are doing them correctly or not unless I see you in practice. If you are not in severe pain or discomfort when you are in the sitting position, I would suggest that you continue to work through the strange feelings and irritability--especially, if the experience happens to be a little different each time you practice. Also, you can just leave the seated meditations alone for a while and concentrate on completing all the standing meditations. Once you have learned the standing FP exercises and can do them all with eyes closed and the breath control sequences from memory,then you can go back to the seated exercises. My strong hunch is that they will probably be much easier to do and will produce the very comfortable, positive results as you've experiencing with the standing exercises. Good luck, Sifu Terry

Hi Shen, Thanks for your progress report on your practice of the FP Qigong. The deeper you go into this system, the more profound the benefits. Don't worry about shakiness in the arms. Everyone is unique and everyone feels shakiness somewhere in their body as result of the FP Qigong. As I stated in early posts, persevere and continue the exercise for as long as possible and the shaking will subside at some point. I hope to start teaching workshops again nationwide after this year's business obligations are completed. In the meantime, f you're ever in the Los Angeles area, you can always stop by one of my Tai Chi classes or get a private lesson. Best Regards, Terry Dunn

Hi Somamech, Thanks for update and report of your progress and breakthroughs in meditation. Your seeing blue with eyes closed in FP meditation is a common experience in practicing this system. As stated in much earlier posts, when practiced on a regular basis for many months or until one feels the tangible reserve of the FP energy constantly in one's body, a video camera (especially all the modern HD cameras, including the Flipcam) will record a blue-ish aura. The blue aura just comes and goes and varies in intensity when you do various FP meditations. I have video footage of GM Doo Wai when he was demonstrating and teaching me the more advanced seated meditations in the early 1990's where his aura turned the brightest and pure-flourescent-yet-dark-blue (somewhat like the color of certain sportscars' dashboard displays at night) and then the aura momentarily expanded to fill the entire space around the grandmaster, and the blue aura momentarily turned opaque so that the normal background and details of the surroundings in the room were no longer visible. When one is well-cultivated and does healing with the FP energy, a subject will sometimes "light up" internally with the transference of the FP healing energy and see the radiant blue with his or her eyes closed. There is yet another means of imparting the "seeing" of blue light to another person that I will disclose when you or another contributor report that you've had a certain yogic experience that will appropriately trigger my disclosure. Your report of "seeing blue" has led me to respond with this forecast/hint of how delightfully blue life can get with the Flying Phoenix Qigong. But don't take my word for it. Practice, practice, practice, and find out for yourself. Enjoy your discoveries, Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. And thanks for posting this blue video of Clair de Lune. Although it's hard to get (try amazon), I want to recommend B.J. Cole's CD called "Transparent Music" that came out in the early 80's or so. He is a phenomenal English pedal-steel guitarist who does radical yet sublime versions of Debussy and Satie classics. You've never heard Gnoissienne #3 and G#5 until you've heard B.J. Cole's. Here is link to info on his CD's (they're all excellent, but "Transparent Music" is incomparable for meditation and Qigong. http://pedalsteelmusic.com/music/bjcole.html P.S. And thanks very much for visiting www.kungufpanda.lawsuit.com, taking the "panda poll" at the bottom and for circulating the link to all your contacts.

I absolutely agree. Attending workshops and retreats with a high-level master--or as many masters as you can find--is important to learn the art of your interest and to understand the universe of Chinese/Taoist/Buddhist physical culture. While mastering any system requires incredible dedication and perserverance, you want to become aware of all other legitimate systems so one doesn't become chauvinistic and self-limiting.

Audiohealing, You can skip the seated meditations, but you will be missing a lot of unique cultivation that is a substantial part of the Flying Phoenix Qigong system. There are also advanced seated meditations beyond those taught in Vol. 7 (that I will eventually publish). As stated in earlier posts, it's perfectly OK to prop back up against a wall or piece of furniture when doing the seated meditations. If you can't do half-lotus, then sit with legs crossed. If you can't sit on floor with legs crossed, then sit and chair with a back and do the seated exercises. But it sounds like you can sit crossed-legged at least. Try to work that way with back propped up by wall or furniture. It will be worth it. Terry Dunn

Just found this posting that I missed long ago, so I'll respond: There are numerous methods to project chi even outside of Qigong methods. Energy healers who already have that skill will find that the Flying Phoenix healing energy "projects itself"--i.e., it will actually spontaneously jump off of oneself onto any person in proximity (with symptoms of lesser health) that the practitioner has sympathy or positive regard towards. Thus only when an FP student reaches this stage of cultivation and wants instruction in healing applications do I teach it. That way I'm more certain that I'm not wasting time by teaching wounded healers. I teach healing methods only to students face-to-face. Infusing water with healing energy is a relatively easy to do--especially in a group setting with a large audience. Not just qigong masters, but faith healers of every stripe are able to do powerful and remarkable healings before a large audience partly because they are drawing the shen component of Qi from their supportive (sometimes hyper-suggestible) audience. But back to the nuts-and-bolts of "water fu" and "fu's" in general. Taoist priest/GM Share K. Lew of the Tao Tan Pai system demonstrated once how to intone healing Qi into a glass of water by using a Chinese mantra. Buddhist and Taoist priests most commonly use a calligraphic talisman to create and dispense the "fu". The "fu" can be given (we call it, "zhan the fu") for any of wide variety of purposes: healing, learning, protection, fertility, exorcism,etc. In the 1970's, I was given a "fu" in the form of a beautiful calligraphic scroll of few characters by a Buddhist monk in Hong Kong who went into meditation for a day and remotely "read" my karma through my father who was his friend (I never met this monk for I did not go on this trip but remained in the States at the time). Fortunately, my path was deemed worthy of this particular "fu" that has two functions. In western spiritual traditions, a Catholic or Protestant priest or a Jewish rabbi (if spiritually annointed) can dispense healing and spiritual blessings through a wide range of ministrations and liturgical services. Bona fide healers and spiritualists use a wide variety of tools to dispense their work. The "water fu" is but one used by Chinese energy healers. But in terms of cultivating profound and lasting good health,the most powerful, practical, and certain means I know of is to practice the Flying Phoenix Qigong in a group. For FP practitioners reading this thread who can gather together in one place, I suggest exploring this potential. It will yield very interesting results. While FP Qigong is powerful and effective to any practitioner, all my students in Los Angeles find that group practice is more powerful, somewhat easier, and more facilitating than individual practice. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Ridingtheox, Thank you for sharing your personal background and the details of your experience with the Flying Phoenix Qigong practice with this discussion. I'm always gratified when someone reports the energizing and rejuvenating effects of the FP Qigong as you have. The fast-acting, tangible energy effects of the FP Qigong you described are pretty much standard and par for the course. It comes sooner or later. And it came fast and pronounced in your case because you have a solid foundation in Tai Chi and your other Qigong practice(s) developed since 1976. My experience as a teacher of this Qigong system (and others) is that the more experienced the practitioner is in Chinese internal martial arts (which includes all complete styles of kung-fu) and qigong and other forms of Chinese meditation, the more immediate and powerful the effects of the FP Qigong practice will be. The reason is with years of prior practice of Chinese holistic health arts, the practitioner is already "tuned" and "calibrated" for cultivating internal energy because mind-body re-integration and the Tai Chi kung-fu body mechanics are both that much more developed and perfected. As in your case, Riding, the body's network of energy channels, or "pipes"-- as I call them--are strengthened and polished from all your years of Tai Chi and qigong. So when you first practice the Flying Phoenix Qigong with its powerful alchemic breathing formulas (that "Fu_Dog" early on this thread referred to as "the secret sauce"), you almost instantly felt the FP Qigong healing energy and its distinct flavor. I want to interject here for you and other readers that once you feel the initial energy effects, don't get stuck on the sensation...but go for more cultivation. Remember the the energizing effects are CUMULATIVE. Practice more--daily if you can-- and get to the next experiential threshold: the development and continuing increase of a tangible reserve of Flying Phoenix Healing Energy, which can come sometimes after just a few weeks of daily practice (--depending of course on one's lifestyle, health habits, etc.). I started Chinese martial arts just a few years before you did--1973. When I started learning the Flying Phoenix Qigong in 1991 from my teacher, GM Doo Wai, I had 11 years of Yang Tai Chi training under Master Abraham Liu and 18 yrs of kung fu training in Southern Shaolin 5 Animals and Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method)--the later which has an extensive and very powerful body of neigung practices which was invaluable because I was able to experientially compare and contrast the energy cultivated by the FP Qigong with that cultivated by TTP. Thus, whatever Qigong method you had practiced in the past, Riding, it has served you well since you are clearly feeling the effects of the FP Qigong now. Also, being a rancher and living and working in the natural outdoors will continue to help you stay attuned to your health processes and internal energy status. Again, I'm so glad to hear that you experienced the "wow" effects of this practice. When the ranch isn't in need of you, please continue to share your experiences and your thoughts on FP Qigong. Cheers, Terry Dunn P.S. Answers to your question about scheduling your practice: My question is: how do I schedule these practices? I am doing long form at dawn and early evening, before bed actually. And i try to do Tai chi during the day sometime between chasing cows and repairing old pickup trucks. A) If you haven't already, first read the training guidelines found my website: http://www.taichimania.com/essentialguidelines.html B.) In general, as I've recommended and as others have stated very recently on this thread: for best results, start with the basic meditations of Vol.1 and 2 and gradually develop your Flying Phoenix training in the order as the material is presented per the numbered volumes of the DVD series. But since you started with Volume 4's Long Form Meditation and got instant energizing results from its practice, that tells me that your form is pretty darn good from your prior Tai Chi and qigong practice. So you can pretty much work with the Flying Phoenix DVD series anyway you care to. But as others have reported throughout this thread, and as you found out for yourself when you tried the Short Five Meditations or Basic Five Standing Med's (Volume 5 or Volume 1?--I'm not sure), for absolute beginners in Qigong, it's best to practice this Flying Phoenix system in the order that the exercises are presented in the DVD series. For I produced this series in the same order that I was taught the system: from easiest stationary meditations (Vol.1) to the more complex moving meditations as in Vol. 4. C) When you start practice of FP Qigong, try to do at least 3 of the standing meditations in one session and/or 2 of the seated meditations (7 repetitions of each) in one session. If you have the time, practice 3 standing + 2 seated all in one session. And practice each basic standing exercise for at least 10 minutes in the beginning. I know this adds of up to 30 min. already if you do 3 exercises. But it will be worth it. D) Also, as I stated earlier in this thread, one should slowly go through all the exercises in the first 3 DVD's and find the ones that "grab" you --the ones that have the most pronounced effects. And practice those regularly for 8 to 12 weeks for starters. Then force yourself to add one or two new FP meditations to your daily practice of what you started with. Eventually, you want to be able to do all the FP Qigong standing meditations in one long session. And be able to do any of the FP exercises automatically without looking at the DVD. That means having the breath-control sequences memorized for each one. That's part of the training and has its own benefits. When and how do I do the short forms? should I do all 5 in one session or should I space them out. E) Yes, if you have the time, 45-60 minutes, do all 5 basic Standing Exercises in one session. That is optimal. As stated earlier in thread: Once you establish the Basic Standing and Basic Seated meditations in your system, and you can feel the effects of "Moonbeam Splashes on Water" (vol.3) and the Long Standing Med. (vol.4), the practice of these advanced, longer moving meditations can replace the practice of the basic standing ones. But each of the basic meditations has its own unique energy effects as you will discover for yourself. I constantly teach all the FP exercises in my classes. Again please check with my earlier postings about training schedule. I know this is a very long thread but my earlier posted advice and instructions plus this post will give you a good idea of how to schedule your practice. ok that's it for now. Thanks to Empty Water and wtm for pointing me to this thread.

Hello Ralis, I've been extremely busy and sometimes I miss emails or posts to the threard. I will catch up with your emails and questions asap. Did you post questions here or did you send to me via PM? Sifu Terry

Hello Turkish, 'didn't hear from you over this past weekend. It was quite busy for an Easter weekend. Taobum contributor Sanjay Raj came out from Princeton, NJ with his family to spend a long weekend at Disneyland in Anaheim. He took a break and came up to L.A. for a private lesson in Flying Phoenix on Saturday afternoon. There was a "whole lotta shakin' going on" during his lesson. Let me know whenever you're in Los Angeles and want a lesson. Regards, Sifu Terry

Hi Fu dog, Trust your instincts and common sense. It sounds like they are working for you properly in discerning negative from positive environments. Clean, bright, sunny, temperate, neat, dry, quiet is of course much better for meditation than dirty, dark, cold, messy, wet, smelly, and noisy! Since you travel a lot, you have a lot of varied experience to figure out what environments are more optimal for meditation in general and for FP Qigong practice in particular...and refine your instinctive sense of feng-shui. Yes, hotel rooms are very often have low-quality energy because they accumulate all the lingering and vented-off energies of every inhabitant. But a hotel room can be easily cleared if one knows how. (And i don't mean lighting incense or smudging a room by walking around with a bundle of lit sage, which are very superficial measures--that only shift the energies around but do not remove the negative energies. Hint: if you use one of the 5 Elements to exorcise, you better use one more Element.) FP Qigong practice, depending on a person's interests, will develop a natural sense of feng-shui (geomancy) in one's body that will instinctively tell one whether one is in a healthy environment or unhealthy one. Eventually, mastery of any high yoga will enable one to literally see the macrocosmic flows of energy in the earth and atmosphere, what Feng-shui masters call "dragon lines" and what Castaneda described in his books as "luminous fibers". FP practice and any complete system of Qigong will enable some beginners to get a rudimentary "feel" for these lines of energy. To further this development of feng-shui instincts, it wouldn't hurt to read up on the basic principles of Feng-shui (some schools of feng-shui that are based on 5 Element Theory combined with Yin-Yang Theory, which are important foundations for practicing any Taoist art) as you practice FPQ. I favor the books written by Eva Wong. In general, the Flying Phoenix Qigong system can be practiced anywhere humans choose to live--as long as one is not directly exposed to harsh elements: strong wind, water and rain, extreme cold, extreme heat, and foul or noxious odors. Outside of beautiful and healthful spots in nature, I visit certain houses of worship and centers of academia to meditate, especially when I'm traveling overseas. But I always do this when they are empty and no congregation is present. Finally, a very important safeguard for all Qigong practitioners is to NOT practice in places that have the reputation for being spiritually active. Regards, Sifu Terry P.S. Then again, practicing in spiritually active locales is up to each individual and the strength of his or her spirit. I remember during a trip to England in the early 90's, while visiting a historic town north of London called Hempstead, I walked by a cemetery where a young man--with skin tone that was a whiter shade of pale--was casually sun-bathing between the headstones. I said to myself, "Oh, those fun-loving Brits!"

Hello Turkish, Yes, I can see you in LA this weekend. I teach a Saturday morning class 10:30 - 12:30 that is mix of Tai Chi, Qigong and kung-fu. If you are interested in a private lesson, please contact me at [email protected] to arrange. Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Aki-Dan, The general instruction in FP Qigong practice is to take 3 deep breathes to stop the meditation whenever you have to stop to attend to other matters. If you are practicing in an environment with lots of loud noise, and you are constantly being distracted by noises that cause you to open your eyes, then it's fine to and use protective, noise-cancelling earphones. For noises as loud as a gunshot that kicks-in one's survival instincts would be very disruptive of the FP Qi cultivation. I think that most practitioners can attest that practicing Flying Phoenix Qigong makes one healthier, much more relaxed, integrated, and cultivates higher consciousness starting with comfortable awareness of one's own energy (Qi) and the distinct Flying Phoenix healing energy. While the truly wonderful experience of feeling the FP energy for the first time and then continually cultivating it with the meditations might make one blissful or happy, long-term happiness ultimately depends on how you live your life--not on what qigong exercises you do. As stated early on in this thread, the Flying Phoenix Qigong meditations are very safe to do and are pretty hard to screw up. As long as you do the correct breath-control sequence in the beginning and assume the proper posture, do the movements naturally and relaxed, and are not in a practice situation where you can be physically bumped or run into while in the middle of a meditation, you will get very positive results--i.e., the benefits that contributors to this thread have written about. ("Fu_Dog" over the course of this thread has been very helpful with his clear articulation of the benefits he has thus far experienced from the FP practice.) Good Luck, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Fu-Dog and Aki-Dan, I'm glad that you both have discovered the "amplified hearing" effects of the FP Qigong practice. FP Practice heightens and tonifies other senses as well because it works through the central nervous system which conducts the information from all of the body's sensory organs/apparatus to the brain. Playing ambient music and using noise-cancelling headphones are fine to do down the road; but I would recommend that when you start the FP Qigong training, you first practice a good stretch of at least 6 months with no artificial audio input or removal. Just do the meditations with ambient noise and light--naturally with no sensory aids. As stated in the guidelines on the DVD's, it's preferrable to practice in a quiet, secluded, clean, level, windless, warm-enough environment that's free from any types of disturbances. Just "work through" the heightened states of hearing where everything sounds 3x or 4x louder than normal. Don't consciously try to "protect" and shield that more acute and sensitized state of perception. Just go with it under the same external conditions. This will allow you to become more aware of what other sensory channels besides hearing the FP Qigong practice is affecting. As Allan Watts said in one of his lectures back in the 70's, "The secret of the Universe is letting it come to you." --and the Flying Phoenix Qigong lets It come in a big way. Enjoy. Terry Dunn http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

'Just came upon Sifu Garry's advice here for the first time. This is very good observation that has powerful implications--in its simplicity in extolling kung-fu students to probe deeper into the movements beyond how their teachers explained them to them. There is always the opportunity and potential for that rare student's intuitive genius to refine his art to a level that surpasses even his/her teacher. e.g.: I remember back in the 1980's, Master Benjamin Lo in San Francisco (senior student of Cheng Man-Ching along with masters Abraham Liu and William C.C.Chen) had numerous gifted Tai Chi students in San Francisco who were excellent in Push-Hands. One of the best in Push Hands was named Terry Lee, and I heard Ben Lo tell a group of us one day that "Terry Lee has a special skill, something I don't have."

Aki-Dan, You're welcome. There's also the saying, "It's never too late..." If you cannot assume 1/2 lotus position, doing the Monk Serves Wine seated meditations while seated in a chair is OK and will suffice. It's become quite a long thread now, but there's a lot of past postings about doing the seated FP Meditations in alternative seated positions. Best, Sifu Terry

Hello Shen555, Sorry, I missed this question back when you posted it and have just now read it. "Entering the astral plane" is not merely a matter of generating "necessary" or sufficient qi." Qi alone does not necessarily enable one to access the astral plane. Astral projection and skrying or whatever you want to call one's experience on the astral plane is a function of mind--more than anything else. How the person deals with what he or she encounters on the astral plane depends on the strength and quality of his soul and his spirit. But it is the mind that "enters" the astral plane. Some people are born with the gift of access. Others find means to condition the mind to enable at-will access to the astral plane. The importance of mind-power is easiest to understand given the fact that in all ancient yogic traditions, the dreamstate is one modality of "entering the astral plane," and the skill of "lucid dreaming" is a sometimes the essential first step towards entering the astral plane. As an excellent exercise in lucid dreaming, Castaneda passed on to his readers how he was taught by Don Juan to look for his hands while dreaming. And then to carefully expand one's vision once he found his hands in the dreamstate. All this is basic exercise of the mind. So mind is what accesses the astral plane. For a good handbook on developing one's mind to access higher states of consciousness, one can read the Castaneda books (the first seven titles in order of their publication.) They are an invaluable roadmap written in English to explore the astral terrain that is perfectly compatible with training in Taoist (and Buddhist) martial and yogic arts. One of the richest, best-written, and most condensed resources that one can use to develop the ability for skrying and astral projection is W.Y. Evans-Wentz's "Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines." (One of 2 required readings for all my students.) To further understand that the mind is all-important (more important than Qi or anything else) in accessing the astral plane, read the Gospel of Mary (Magdalene) in the Gnostic Bible (Nag Hammadi Library) to see Christ's own words about "seeing". And there are, of course, tons of other literature that describe the esoteric rituals, symbolic formulas and yogas that enable the mind to access supramundane realities in Taoist, Buddhist, Tibetan Buddhist, and western hermetic libraries--and also in the biographies and writings of more modern prophets and psychics such as Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, Sylvia Brown, and even John Edwards (who constantly taps the astral plane to do his grief counseling.) Flying Phoenix Qigong is first and foremost a yogic system of energy cultivation and hygienics. By my experience, FP Qigong's sublime meditative state of self-healing can be used as a vehicle to access the astral plane. But that totally depends on the mind and the predilection of the practitioner. (As posted early on in this thread, first-time practitioners of FP Qigong have reported experiencing visions of Buddhist dieties and iconography at the very onset of practice. Whether this is astral visitation or memory-access I don't know...'would have to ask the contributor.) Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. No doubt that contributor "Dale" has such a predilection as he explained in a posting not too long ago that he had been communing with Puxian (patron saint of Ehrmeishan) in meditation, and then a few weeks later discovered for the first time the DVD series teaching Flying Phoenix and this discussion thread.

Aki-Dan, I think that you will discover--as almost every FP Qigong practitioner does at some point--that when you practice the moving meditations as slowly as possible, you will find that the process and the attempt to move at "the speed of a shifting sand dune" alone will create the unique and sublime state of "no-mind" where your mind is empty while you are "not-doing" the movements (that Fu_Dog very nicely described in his posting). Unlike many other styles of Qigong and unlike Aikido, the cultivation of the tangible Flying Phoenix healing energy entails/requires no mental visualization whatsoever. All you do is perform the breath-control sequence once at the start of the exercise and then hold the posture and do the movements (if there are movements in the particular exercise). And as I've said in earliest posts: while it is ideal to attain the state of no-mind through concentrating on the super-slow movements, as long as you do the breathing sequence correctly and assume the posture correctly, the FP Meditation will generally impart the same energizing and rejuvenating effects whether your mind is empty, you are calculating your income taxes, composing a melody, or reciting the Magna Carta. Quick diagnosis: your statement that "The mental visualization used to cultivate ki forces thought." indicates two things to me: 1) The mental visualization you are using alone cannot cultivate ki or chi. I've never trained in Aikido--but have only watched and studied numerous Aikido masters, and watched several friends of mine get tested for their black belts by the phenomenal Chiba Sensei (in San Diego in the 90's). I can only speak from my experience that all Chinese, Indian and Tibetan yogic (alchemic) arts that cultivate or generate internal energy always coordinate four (4) vital functions in an esoteric manner: eyes, mind, movement, and breath. 2) You are trying too hard to cultivate Ki using the mental visualization that you were taught. Chi or ki cannot be forced--mentally or otherwise. It can only be induced. The martial ki cultivated through Aikido practice is very, very different in quality from the Flying Phoenix healing energy. The Ki developed in Aikido is more akin to (but in the end is still not the same as) the jing that is cultivated through advanced Tai Chi Chuan. It may take you a while to let go of the rigid approach to energy cultivation that you have been used to. But I think you will be pleasantly startled at how fast and relatively easily the FP Qigong works. Good luck, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Aki-Dan, I just complemented Fu_Dog for his very good explanation of the breathing method in Flying Phoenix Qigong. He is accurate in his clarification that after you do the initial breath control sequence of each exercise once, you simply breath naturally and do not make any attempt whatsoever to synchronize any part of the breath cycle with any particular movement in the FP exercises. Just breath naturally and move as slowly and smoothly as you can--aiming towards "the speed and smoothness of a shifting sand dune." Enjoy the practice. Sifu Terry Dunn

Hi Lloyd, Thanks for making an excellent recapitulation of the general breathing method of the Flying Phoenix Qigong for Aki-Dan. Your perspective as a student of FP Qigong with 1.5+ years of experience is perfectly accurate, valuable and is nicely articulated. 'Makes my job much easier. Many thanks! Best Regards, Sifu Terry

Hi Shen555, I'm not sure what you mean by if "high qigong entails high morals". Qigong, whether it's high or low, is a system of hygienics and energy cultivation. "High morals" I would define as being constant in one's understanding of the distinction between right and wrong and acting always in the right. Quite an ideal character trait. Morals are principles of right conduct. Qigong as a discipline in and of itself of course can't dictate or enforce moral behavior. So high Qigong cannot "entail" high morals unless the teacher instills the high morals in the student(s). And that's up to each teacher. One of the traditional means by which Chinese masters attempt to develop morality is to severely test and test and test and test the character, morals, mettle, and capacity to persevere and to sacrifice ("ren") of the student over many years before teaching him advanced knowledge. I also take "High qigong" to mean advanced qigong methods that have the potential to enable one to cross the threshold of human experience into the spiritual realm by cultivating the structural sensitivity of the body and psychical powers of the mind so that one is able to literally "see", recognize, commune, and otherwise wrestle with supramundane energies and spiritual entities. While being highly cultivated through Qigong can enable one to see and commune with spirits, whether one chooses to commune and work with spirits in any manner and to any frequency is totally up to the predilection of that person. Most of my teachers in Kung Fu and Qigong avoided contact with spirits at all costs because they were afraid of spirits--even though they had the tools to work with them. One exception, of course, was Taoist priest Share K. Lew, who was monastically trained in China. One truly has to be "called" to become a spiritualist. Stay warm up there with the FPQ! Sifu Terry

Hello Lloyd, Flying Phoenix Qigong is so benign and very accommodating that one can wear rings, watch, bracelets (for the ladies) and all the neck jewelry and bling that one cares to while practicing. Normal jewelry will not interfere with the process of cultivating the FP healing energy. (I am excluding, of course, esoteric types of crystal jewelry created for alchemic purposes.) I say this based on two levels of experience: (1) In the years that I trained with GM Doo Wai, he only took his watch off for one purpose: to spar or to demonstrate martial techniques. When he practiced and demonstrated Flying Phoenix Qigong and other Bok Fu Pai (White Tiger) meditations--much of which I videotaped,the grandmaster never took off any of his jewelry. And he would wear rings, pendant on chain, and also certain pins on his clothing that signified his standing in the Chinese healing/herbalist community. (2) Other forms of qigong and neigong are better practiced without jewelry or without clothing for that matter. For example, some of the advanced neigung exercises of Tao Tan Pai ("Taoist Elixir Method" Kung Fu) of Grandmaster Share K. Lew are best done without clothing. They just work better that way. Another reason is that one "sees" better if one is practicing in front of a mirror. But that is not the case with FP Qigong: one's normal jewelry that one wears on a daily basis--and which carries one's energy anyway--is not a problem to wear while practicing. Tangential questions are OK, Lloyd. Best, Sifu Terry