Spectrum

tt for clarification

TM: any links or book refs for the entire myth / story? Sounds charming thank you for sharing. -Spectrum

Stand and Forget, Move to Remember. Memorize Forgetting, Forget to Remember. Remember to Stand, In Stillness, Be Movement, In Movement, Be Stillness. In Being without, you win Within. Spectrum

Couple more thoughts, Tai Chi and Chi Gung offer a series of circulation perscriptions as well. I mean Yoga is like this as well, you can take care of whatever hurts or feels stuck, it's all body medicine. I'll often take a few moments to feel my body out in wuji, say a 10-30 second intuitive slice, and then start maybe a 3 move section of three moves that FEEL good, regardless of their place in the form, or even the direction in which my stance adopts (functionally speaking, not geometrically, alignment is always important and starts in the feet)... anyways, sometimes just the flow of the practice (moving continually and slowly) dropping into wu ji, and the mental aspect of putting 2-3 moves together that maybe I hadn't thought of before, usually gives a quick zone out / tune in or was it zone in / tune out? Maybe both. You can get A LOT done in 15 minutes. Spectrum

Nice work on discovering the neutralizing poses of the sunsalutation. Long chain muscle groups for sure. Who thought stretching the electrical cords would make them work better. I usually only stretch and do some form work inside, i save chi gung for outside, as the building seems to have a harmonic that is more in tune with 60hz then what's going on when the wind is blowing outside in the trees. It's much simpler to find a good place to practice outside than inside. Inside it's more about the people around you it seems. Positive people who don't drag their muck around with them. Heart, Spectrum

If the movements your refering to are the eight brocades there are many sources for learning that form. Nice classical form of practice. Good intro to chi gung. Spectrum

Nicely put.

Xeno, your thoughtful replies are of value. People read what you write. It's hard to validate subjectively objective experience and but as humans we continue to communicate. Just don't stuff it. Dialog helps things settle, and can kick up dust sometimes that needed to be cleared anyways. Witch, get well soon. Church is only on Sundays. Agape, Spectrum

That's true for everyone. We all have healing to attend. Wounds to true love to mend. ... and again ... and again ... I'm feeling sick... I can get off on this ride? <chuckle>

Such a charge because of attachments. Eagles fly away. Sit forever one legged. Eternity awaits your accumulated experiences. Such a fine line. GOlden. Mending where the threads bare thin.

Moonlight is sunlight not absorbed by the moon. Such delicate rays. If a planet produces a gravitational dent or event in space/time; and we can witness the delicate fabric ripple around us in proportional synergy, multiple events, alignments, cycles, circuits and frequency all become proportionally relavent and related to the newness of the nowness. Full moon gungness. Spectrum

Sacred Art no need words. You miss the mark.

Lifting the Flower. Meditation dialog with Fauther Paul Alignment, Pancakes, Forms. Father Pauls Spirit moves among us. The pancakes were from beyond this week. Spectrum

Thats gotta be no schtick Matt Furey has been the OGTB for decades. I think the point is that he doesn't give a sh*t he's on his path and you can either lead follow or file in behind someone else waiting in line. He has been saying exactly what he's been doing for a while. From my perspective he has tried to act as an apologist for chinese training methodologies by translating a lot of things into western sports/athletic terminology. I may be overstepping in saying this.... the Matt Furey I remember was way into Chin Na and Chinese wrestling? I'm wondering if he's off on some adventure somewhere and got some trip going and has just kept riding it. http://www.matthewfurey.com/photos.html Look at the one in his PJ's. Yeah, I wonder if he cares? Spectrum

There are Yin and Yang pentatonic scales in Chinese music theory. Research bell harmonics.

Your brain can't tell the difference if an image is real or not. The internal experience is the same. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television Neil Postman: The Dissapearance of Childhood Marshall McCluhan: Understanding Media Furthermore you woudn't even have any of the things floating around that are attached to internal sensations unless you had been educated via certain paths of knowledge that modern people consider "real" information... though lacking in wisdom or true body knowledge.

xuesheng, Thank you. I ... * ... That's it. That's what i've seen that draws me near each time. It is all so familiar. If you recognize you seek without words. I feel this whenever i see the fullest potential of human elements combining together to form a cohesive realization. Homerun. Hole in one. Slam Dunk. 1st round K/O. The 3rd Stanza. All the perfect move. This is amazing translation, body poetry, plain view koans. I mean I am printing this out right now and putting it in my journal. Is this what is considered the 40 chapters? I believe this type of spirit to practice is why Yang Cheng Fu's practice looked like it did. The golden mean in motion. A whip in motion. 300 percent efficiency w/ 100% relaxation/letting go of outcome. This doesn't mean limp wristing, it means maintaining a flow to your bows and frames as they relate to the whole, I can't believe at this point that these practices evolved from a last man standing philosophy. More in a bit I have to go for a walk.practice with this. Spectrum

Whatever happens is a result of our relationship to emptiness. Afterall it's your head that tingling. I have no idea. Our dialog only effected the timing of the practice (something new/discovery) You might have done it anyway, opened a Tai Chi book tommorow and saw it as a three ring practice or something. The most important thing is the breath really, the body has a way of settling itself like sand in water, the mind on the other hand is partyly your job. (active mind becoming passive, letting go of percieved outcomes, engaged but not attached, emotionally clear) The sensations are a little like accents in a differnt language dialog. We are speaking body. By listening (to the body, small and large) Taoist tradition has been gathering (and letting go of) universal information for many thousands of successive generations. TaoMeow has some very interesting things to say about this, as does Prof Lily Sui on Oahu who heads the Taoist Immortal school of Accupucture. She is from the Dragon Tiger Mt. tradition. There are those who would say that form and tradition are not of value in todays modern culture. I would challenge that w/ a bodily inquiry into what modern culture has transmitted to them ergonomically. I fasted from coffee yesterday, I'm 5 sips into this Chelsea. Makes the box resonate higher but thinner. Gotta have "organic" coffee, no chemicals. Chemicals change the frequency of things. Shifu Sui won't let people in parts of her herb gardens because she says when some people get around the plants it changes their medicinal qualities. This can be researched in "Primary Perception" a book on EEG's and plants. This plant needs some light that's not going 60 cycles a second.

Freeform you made me think about the "ritual" aspects of any form.... indeed the opening and closing can seem like that, but I have to say that if I don't "open" I'm not open. At least in my practice there are coorsponding psycho/physiological sensations and signs that indicate my body / mind is "opening".... Interested in others experiences here as well... I am thinking that when I observe what happens to a person when they get scared, the fight or flight mechanism if you will, i see them squat... this squat is automatic, it seems genetically engrained. Sometimes this sqaut/expansion turns into a hop or "startle" ... depending on how "grounded" the person is inside themselves. I have tried to scare some people who simple respond to the unexpected with grounding themselves... they sink instead of rise. Anyways, I'm saying this to say that what might seem a "ritual" or a "system" for that matter is actually just a window into the most natural of human expressions. It's just that when we walk upright there are many curves in the spine.... and when we sink the center down it all balances out... Spectrum

Awareness to the crown is one of the 10 points Yang Cheng Fu transmitted to Chen Man Ching I think (Yang Family Classics?) Anyways when I do that during push hands (crown point awareness) I find my upper back and neck are suspended while my lower half is rooted. That produces a really smooth sensation of evenly rooted weight transitions while the arms are effortlessly changing. Nice observations. I hate to say it again, but we're talking about Sung here, the psychophysiological state of relaxed body, alert mind. Inhabiting the space between mind & body... I digress. Thanks for the observations.

Most practicing have an opening, middle & closing phase. During the closing phase you reintegrate your consciousness back to normal reality. This is much like coming out of a self induced hypnotic state. People w/ skill can "drop down" into meditative states pretty instantly, these states often end up going in the two directions that you mention.... but I must mention those are the starting points. Nothing, and something. Wu Ji, and Yin/Yang. I am thinking you would probably glean many nuggets if you started researching the taoist classics. What you have mentioned so far is refreshing to hear from a novice because it shows you've been inside searching. Job well done. Have a coorsponding physical practice w/ these techniques will help ground you. For instance for the single pointed awareness simple stare at a thumbtac on the wall until the wall blacks out. For emptiness, it's easiest to do standing meditation for beggingers because then the single point dissolves into the rest of the body doing gung (work). When you engage in gung you engage body/mind whole. There is no division. The division is conditioned, these arts are unitive in nature, they bring separate things together to be whole. The energy you feel flow when you let go is normal and is the reason why Taoist meditation focuses heavily on emptiness of the heart/mind to keep the chi flowing smoothly. I think you are doing the right thing by having a dialog w/ other meditators. I personally avoid being to specific w/ sensations, but there are general ques that clue you in on whether what you are doing is working or not.

Try standing stake in wuji while holding the ball above your head? I wonder what would happen.

It's not the same as "penance". It is about bringing the chi to the surface and circulating it. Sensations associated with this practice can be a distraction to the meditator, causing him to drift off into "the space between" and "play" with the sensation w/ the eye of awareness. Not that this is bad, but drifting off on the highway and being so tunnelled out that you miss exits.... it's better to be simple engaged in driving... the whole car. Falling alsleep and waking up time is good for playing in this space between as well. But action that requires a kind of acting meditation... its just that by getting into a practice that circulates said energy will continue to use and refine it... it won't get stuck. You'll know how to GROUND. As practice refines the chi you'll be able to feel the qualitative differences of energy circulation in different circumstances... the point is when you feel something is happening, you simple observe first. That is the taoist way. Observation of the natural flow. By cleaning your house for instance you are manifesting an external action that mirrors an internal state. Clean house. Empti Mind. This is simply a suggestive state. You will sense your libido. It is the mental attachments associated with these sensations that might want to be observed for a time. Sometimes practice will make it strong. Believe me when I saw the mind is most important here and what you think about manifests in your body. If you feel distracted, take action. Sometimes you know that inaction is best and that it's just your mind, other times the body tells you what it wants. Most important don't stress about what is most natural and be kind and forgiving to yourself. We are all learning as we grow. My teacher just said. "Don't c*m every time". Simple practical advise for conservation. It gets easier for guys as they get older. When you're young you should be able to produce heat in your dan tien with retaining for the natural 3 days with minimal experimentation outside of placing the eye of awareness on the dan tien. Physical excercise will temper the body. If you run out of breath running to catch the bus, cross train. I hope these reflections are useful to you on your journey. Spectrum

That is a good point. It is multi dimensional like that. You are distracting your attention from the sensations of chi, and at the same time utilizing that chi into li. Buddhists have a tendancy towards mundane tasks for some reason. I regonize that's a stereo type. I mean monastic Buddhists. But I've done the same. Washing the car, doing the dishes, cleaning, these are all things that make you feel good when you get done and are concrete accomplisments to reinforce your inner achievements. Paint the fence, wax the car... how does the task feel. How can it feel different. Is there any place that is tight. This is not about penance or anything like that, it's about self observation. The other reason is not to get stuck in the obsessive cycle of "trying" to produce phenomenon. Bullseye. Single point of awareness. Alpha state flow. When you lose time scrubbing the floor or playing tennis, you found it, that's the space between the lines. We change as humans, one week we may really feel it during a song, another week it wanes until we get away to the beach and lose site of civilization... another week we share it with a friend. The sensations arnt that illusive, it's the mind distracted with those sensations that produces illusions... Keep up the good work. Spectrum

Can you relate the sensation to any other times in your life when the same or similar sensation has happened? What would it feel like say if this same sensation was spread out over the entire surface area of your skin? Does it change after you practice your Tai Chi? Most likely it sounds like a new circuit being opened, not something being blocked. Surface level sensations of flow and pulsations through an area can mean it's in the process of opening or closing... if your practice regularly then most likely in your case opening. It seems to be a sign on the path for sure. If you have been guiding chi around the orbit circuit then this might be some residual or again, meridians that have simply never reached full "charge" before. Tai Chi is the best way to cycle and move energy around the body in my opinion. There are other activities, but none that i've found outside of the water that give you the floating sensations of good chi gung or tai chi (internal arts) practice. The motions of tai chi, yes, even the yang style produce eddies and swirls of chi in your ma. Spectrum