The Observer

Unification or consolidation the thrust of the act is similar. I've often thought of conquerors and empire-builders as unconcious agents of progress; maybe Ghengis Khan realized this when he proclaimed himself the Whip of God to the Muslims he encountered.

Passivity is the root of action, activity the root of tranquility. One emerges from the other in a never ending cycle...

I would argue that his accomplishments were admirable. Remember, thanks to Alexander the Great Greek culture spread to the rest of the Middle East, even to India and East Asia (to an extent). The fact that he tried marrying his Macedonian officers to the Persian nobility showed that he more in mind than just conquest, but rather the unification of the known world. There is a Monty Python skit that illustrates a very valid point about empires; they are bad for the conquerors, but in their wake they leave new, open trade routes and the spread of new ideas!

Bang up job? Really? So if I killed your family, forced you to speak another language, force colonize your country and torture/imprison you that's a bang up job? Some "Qi Gong Teacher" you are...how much are the communists paying you?

There is nothing wrong with making a choice to improve your current conditions. Even doing nothing is making a decision. If for example you are sick and you do qigong to improve your health (not only for yourself but for the loved ones that depend on you) how can that be a negative thing. I do agree however, that it is negative to want to change other people, at least against their own will.

Dude.....sometimes there is only a few right ways to do something. There's nothing wrong with being given a lesson (provided you have a teacher with a good-heart).

I agree with Yuen, a good teacher can see much, much, much, more than the average Joe. Also there are many intangibles that perhaps you may only learn kinesthetically. Aside from that a DVD or book can be a useful supplement to the direct teaching you receive.

This is very important. Regardless of your paradigm you should focus on the moment at hand, this life is very valuable. Now that aside I believe that if you have the experience this neurosurgeon had and you come back to the world of the living with full recall of it, it's so you can bring something valuable back for the rest of us world dwellers. A hero's journey in every sense of the word.

Power is energy in it's yang state. Sometimes power flows through you; it's not a bad thing to enjoy it as long as you don't abuse it, just know that when it's leaving you don't be attached to it and harmonize with the cycles of nature. Blockages happen when you hold on to things too long.

Not a 100% relevant but from what I've been taught you can find the 3 dantiens (mouth=lower dt, nose=mid dt, eyes=upper dt) represented in the head. Once again the macrocosm can be found in the microcosm.

Maybe it's not the world that's wrong but rather our point of view and perspective. Kind of like how you're cranky when you ain't slept and rested enough, meditate deeply and it's like you got new eyes (and perspective too)!

Life is like a dream and dream is like life....the two blur together till each is indistinguishable....so called evil manifestations in real life and dreams are just unconscious parts of my mind that want to be spoken to instead of pushed away. Each day I strive to shed light on my whole mind until it's one unified, glowing, radiant, whole.

Give up knowledge? I suppose that means knowledge of the Tao Te Ching and the knowledge of reading and writing that let you type up that post....

Wow. Awesome book, thank you for sharing Gerard!

It is said that to become a Buddha you must become a bodhisattva/bodhisaata first. And if I am not mistaken bodhisattva's have complete recall of their previous lives. Why did the Buddha have to undergo all those trials in order to gain his wisdom, when theoretically he should have lived at least one incarnation as a bodhisattva and with it total recall of his previous lives? Nirvana="blown or put out, extinguished" as per http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nirvana