Raymond Wolter

Ancient Songs of the TAO Anyone has a review to share on this product? I am considering buying this one but was not too sure on what the usage of this is. Are these supposed to be like mantras which open up energy channels? Also, does Bruce explain the translation of these songs? Any info is appreciated.

I did too, but after Becker's review. I will keep ya all posted on what I learn from the book. No matter what great deal of good stuff a book or a technique offers, I guess it is up to me to learn, practice and derive benefit.

I assure you I have no issues when support is ideology based and cause-based and not based on the Cheerleader effect. On this thread, I have no reason to believe that support expressed here is anything but cheerleading. Let me say something positive and filled with wisdom that the venerable Master Hsuan Hua says about men of Superior Wisdom/learning/experience and those donning the high pedestal of a teacher. Of course, he talks about himself here in all humility and true humility, which is one of the reasons he is one of the most awakened, compassionate and wise beings to have walked the earth in recent times. Moreover, like Rajanaka says, "grasping" puts the snake to sleep and "letting go" awakens the blissful fiery serpent - letting go of images, concepts and grasping of every kind, even the need to awaken or lead HER. Once the Awareness is pure and refined and calmness abides, the serpent awakens of her own will and THEN she is a lady. Else, she is an illusionist who drags one further down the path of bliss or pain, whatever one tries to cling to or is averse to...

Good evasive response. Didn't expect anything better. And tell that your supporters who attack those who don't support this cult-like madness

Xabir, great information. Thank you!

If she and you have a right to repeatedly advertise your status as "eclectic mystics", durga in flesh etc. [humble did you say? ), then we also have a right to express displeasure at your repeated advertisements for KAP, incorrect usage of terms, incorrect depiction of what Shaktipat is and what is its goal etc. After all, you claim to be eclectic mystics and durga in flesh or something. I am just a normal, emotional human being. And I don't have a reputation to protect or a business to promote unlike the two of you here. So, same advice back to you - why do you react when someone does not accept what you say as the Universal truth or something even relevant spiritually? Ignore and scroll down Enough has been said about why Shaktipat is different from beaming of Chi or Pranapat. I guess it is you folks who try to project your brand as the "true" brand right? Hmm, probably all the bible-thumping habit didn't go away and has re-manifested as shakti-thumping, KAP-thumping etc. ?Something to think about, but to think, you need to listen, stay silent for a bit, not consider every conversation as an attack or stemming from a ulterior motive and "listen". But I guess contemplation and mindful logical analysis is not your brand of spirituality? Good Lord, this is exactly what Buddha, Shankara and JK warned against - spirituality based on experiences and self-found mysticism; in all possibility it is simply a blissful trap. And Shaktipat is certainly not an agency towards that goal as projected here. And is straight-forward, relevant communication a lost art on this thread? Or such goofed up communication with "all is one" "all is god" i am love and light kinda newage statements have to repeat every three sentences to prove someone's status as an "eclectic mystic" and incarnated "durga"? By the way, my friend who is an accomplished Yogi and a scholar sent me this: "striyah samasta sakala jagatsu" which in Sanskrit means all women are really manifestations of Shakti whose one minuscule form is Durga. So I would think every lady and every human is as much Durga as ShaktiMama or anyone else. There are no more Avatars anymore except Kalki/Maitreya. So, get over Durga and say something more realistic please There is a difference between "sharing" and "flaunting". Even if what happens here is a blatant form of "sharing", how is one's spiritual experience going to help another except create a longing to have those very similar experiences? Kundalini is not about seeing deities, colors and visions - all those manifestations are simply clearing of blockages. True Kundalini awakening simply has one effect - unceasing silence, a self-aware silence and nothing else. Every other phenomena simply indicates dualistic seperation between the observer and the observed and harping repeatedly on such experiences is useful to none, except to those who want to sell their status as divine or awakened beings. Sorry, neither of your explanations sounds sincere or helpful. There are others here like Ya Mu, Taomeow, Zen Bear, Scotty and Vajra H many times too, who speak, in simple words, without trying to peddle themselves but rather present info, and not making it about flaunting themselves ridiculously. Like your cheerleader cat said earlier, if you don't like criticism, ignore, scroll down and don't respond.

ShaktiMama, I get it! - You have had mystical experiences - You have realized Shakti/Allah/Tao and have had experiences that put Matrix/Avatar/Airbender/Inception to shame. - You have trained with X, y, z and so on - You live in ecstasy etc. - You don't care for terminology etc. as you have direct experience but still will use too many words to repeatedly describe your experiences. - You first criticize religion and cultural lens and then change your stand - and offer circular arguments. - You're an eclectic self-acclaimed mystic and so that implies you are not bound by rules or convention, be it in simple terms of communicating. I get it, not once but many times from your many many posts all of which speak the same and try to reassert the fact that you've had some experiences and an assumption that others are merely talking without such experiences. You ignore the fact that such experiences and bliss addiction may not be everyone's choice or that some may not want to flaunt their experiences on this forum for they are personal, true just for oneself and do no ultimate good in talking about them as masters of the yore have all frequently warned. My only problem with you is...you just don't listen. You only like to talk. No one is trying to invalidate your experiences here but this being an online forum, try to listen sometimes and not talk always. It helps, considering you are far from being enlightened (quoting yourself here) Santi and I did that, Santi and I did this..it gets boring and repetitive after a while especially for those who don't care much for these blown up experiences of the body and the mind and like to really explore the source of all this hoopla which is simply quiet, there and lacking any fanfare. What are we here? Kindergarten kids?

Which category do you belong to?

Great Review! Thank you Ya Mu, If it is not too much of a botheration, can you briefly explain the difference between Stillness Movement Qigong and Gifts of Tao Qigong? Are they both Medical Qigong systems? Do they have different goals? Is there a specific way to learn them as in learn A first and then B? I searched the archives of this forum and saw that you said one can learn the Vibratory Qigong from DVD. However, that is not true w.r.t to Stillness-Movement as you need to project Chi directly? So, the book is basically to gain a theoretical understanding of the practice? Or one could get some benefit practicing from the book? Thanks in advance.

I have used something called Xphirience, which does not have any brainwave entrainment per se like Binaural or Isochronic entrainment, but is supposed to encode the golden mean. Very conducive to meditation and relaxes you much faster than Autogenic ways or PMR.

Logic should be the basis of Faith 3Bob, pardon me for doing just what I didn't want Xabir to do Ramana Maharshi on Kundalini (Thanks to the friend who pointed out to this piece and sent Max's interview excerpts - similarities are pretty amazing)

Not really sure of relevance but some good info on Water path by Kunlun Max.

Very well said.

That exactly has been the problem many of us are trying to point out here. Santiago and you seem to be mapping all these terminologies from different traditions with each other in rather simplistic and using them inter-changably and that is what is not being appreciated here. Though you now say Shakti is Tao's Power (which is close to Advaita interpretation of Maya being Brahman's power) Santiago uses Allah/God/Shakti interchangeably in all his posts. If you say what is it in words and terminologies, well, on a forum where mind to mind transmission is not always possible we would have to depend on words and in such cases, not every one likes these terms thrown around loosely. Exactly the same concern I expressed regarding Shaktipat and beaming of Chi/Prana. Of course, you are free to do that but it is just that some of us think that is incorrect; or rather not always correct. Cultural lens are not always bad, sometimes stripping a practice of its culture strips it of its value as well. I also disagree that religion and mysticism are different. If there is an issue with religion, it is with incorrect interpretation as religion is based upon mysticism and solid philosophy which drives every aspect of the religion. Mysticism in action is religion, mysticism in itself is not usable as a tool. I can speak for two religions I am familiar with, Hinduism and Buddhism and this is true for them for the most part. Many from Abrahamic religious backgrounds view religion as something evil and want to strip every aspect of spirituality of 'religion' and that does not work well with Eastern religions or practices borrowed from them. Every practice has a definitive place in the framework and each framework is complete in itself. Trying to pull individual bells and whistles out and strip them of their significance is not useful ultimately IMHO.

Tao99, Always appreciate your frank and non-nonsense approach. I also agree that mixing terminologies and approaching everything is same and every road takes one to Timbukctoo is a rather wrong path to be taken by those who are still taking baby steps. Many accomplished teachers may agree on such a philosophy in varying degrees but still will not propagate that to the students as it is not practically helpful. That said, I would have to agree with ShaktiMama and we can agree to disagree. Santiago and ShaktiMama want to mix up terminologies, see similarities in everything, describe Yin and Yang as Shiva and Shakti (which technically is incorrect as Vajra pointed out correctly in another place; they are similar to Prakriti and Purusha of dualisitic Samkhya but not to non-dual Shiva-Shakti of a much different stream of philosophy) etc. If it works for them, and rocks their boat so be it. If they think it helps them and their students, so be it. We do not have to agree with them or accept that to be true based on their experiences as every experience in the realm of senses is but a passe. Both have stated before they are not enlightened and so their experience is just theirs, and true for them. We can happily and courteously disagree with them. However, on why no one 'up' there helps? There are different theories. I have not studied Western religions seriously so cannot answer. But Eastern religions point us to Karma. Buddhism sees Karma as a natural law with no dispenser of fruits. Hindu schools like Mimamsa hold an exactly similar view which obviously inspired Buddhism but other more theistic schools of Hinduism suppose a passive dispenser of fruits of action aka a God-like figure. And then there are more theistic dualistic schools who agree with Karma but also suppose the Great Compassion of the Supreme Being who can, under circumstances, alleviate consequences of Karma through Grace. Advaita, like Buddhism, teaches skillful means and right effort to alleviate oneself from Karmic cycle but also holds grace as a necessary factor towards attaining skill and effort. Not sure how much you agree with the theory of Karman, but this is probably one explanation for your question. Man, God is such a damn difficult concept to define, no wonder every school of philosophy have their own definitons of what God is, or not and if there is or not. And Shakti is, technically not Dao. If Shiva-shakti = yang-yin, then how is Shakti Dao?

Interesting. Can you please point to the source where he calls himself the serpent?

Generally that's true. But are there examples of things going bad with long term Falun Dafa practice - the Qigong itself I mean. There seem to be no such documented cases. In the absence of such proof, this would only be an assumption.

Found this from another forum I visit frequently.

Hey Drew, I put this question in the list Sean was compiling to ask Master Chunyi Lin but you are his rep here so I am asking you I have been doing a full lotus for a long time but my wife finds it real difficult. So those who cannot get into full lotus for some reason, say disability, lack of flexibility etc., is there a substitute practice to make up for it? SFQ seems to hold Full Lotus as an important practice right from level 2, so what about those who cannot do it?

I started with Goenka's retreat and have done about eight of them. Very very helpful. It is rather useless to compare Mahasi vs Thai Forest vs Goenka etc. You will hear stories of how one is watered down, how the other is the "real" deal etc. After having done all of them - they all are equally good and sincerely adhering to any one of them will take you a long way. If you are not used to retreats and meditating at all, then Goenka can be quite a strain. Helps some and hurts others. So you may want to consider a smaller and milder retreat before a Goenka one or a Thai Forest one. Also, it is great if you can develop a good Shamata practice and get to the first Jhana and have a Tai chi or Yoga practice on the side before you take a serious retreat. That way, you will be able to derive maximum benefit from the retreat.

I doubt any moderator here has objected to a casual use of Dick or Ejaculate or anything similar. The person who is whining here, albeit as a joke, attacked another member who has always contributed well on this forum, calling him dick, boob and insinuating stuff about his sexual preference, of which he had no real clue. So that was a personal attack and he paid for it. Very tactful way of presenting a different picture now ... Emotional Maturity is not always an assured result of Kundalini stuff huh? Or the need to be cool and bro-dude sometimes overtakes ones sensibilities of communicating well and as needed by the audience one is catering to?

A welcome change in this age of mix and match everything. Shakti marries Chi to reveal Anatta to African Bushmen who shake after dwelling in ecstatic practices of Egyptian Alchemy followed by a Sufi Whirl dance. Marbles, deeply respect your focus and habit of sticking to relevancy instead of posting lengthy sermons in flowery language which anyone can read any place and adds no value to the discussion.

Valid point. Giving a link and just quoting the relevant selections helps. Crowding the thread with lengthy copy pastes is a big turnoff.

Copied from a friend's facebook page. Dwai and Rain and many others have read it already I would think. "Awareness watching Awareness is the true meditation to re-establish the perception of the Eternal, Unchanging Witness within called the True Self. It can be done actively or passively. Those incapable of the active contemplation use the passive means of abandonment and relaxation where one begins to relax the body progressively, inch by inch, part by part, sometimes through intent and sometimes simply through a passive moment-to-moment observation. Once a state of deep relaxation is achieved, as a first step towards abandonment, the mind is pulled into the Spiritual Heart, which Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi called Hrid-Granthi. Then, the thoughts are abandoned and released - by ignoring smells, sights, sensations - of the body and its surroundings. With every successive degree of relaxation, abandonment is also progressed by letting all efforts drop. Thoughts, efforts, feelings are all let go like the peels of an onion falling away. Thoughts, efforts and feelings are abandoned, released and let go. When the superficials fall away, the ever-present Witness within presents itself and cessation is attained. Though slower and more indirect than the active approach of inquiry, this works for many. In the more rapid and direct active approach, one simply looks within and observes the Observer. One becomes aware of Object A initially and then gradually aware of that which is aware of A. One then becomes aware of Object B and then becomes aware of that which is aware of B. One then understands that it is the same Awareness that makes one aware of A and B. The wise one then drops objects A and B as objects of awareness and rests simply in the pure-awareness which is Self-aware. Put in simple words, watch your awareness watching awareness. Shut down the thoughts that lead you to the object of observation but observe the observation itself, observe the one who observes, see the seer. Think not that Awareness is the mind, or thoughts therein. Awareness is the dynamic aspect of Chit or consciousness of the Eternal Witness and an easy and direct route to within. As an auxiliary practice, one may wish to start by observing thoughts. Once the thoughts are being looked at, they become less chaotic, and begin to fade. When there is a state of no-thought, even if for a very short duration, ask yourself a question - Where is my Next Thought going to come from? Try to find an answer. At that moment, in the process of such contemplation, one easily makes acquaintance with the Pure Awareness and becomes aware of The Awareness. By repeating this as thoughts rise and fall, one is able to stay in the state of Pure Awareness."