LBDaoist

I just posted on this earlier today.

I want to obtain some of my own swords, both single and double, practice and legitimately sharp swords. Can anyone provide any leads? I need to go somewhere that I can test the various lengths, weights and balance on various blades. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately none of those vendors have a physical presence in Southern California. For those of you who train with a sword, how did you determine what length you needed? I only have access to two swords. One of them I know for certain is too long. I suppose if all else fails, I can just get one an inch or two shorter than that one.

Thank you all for raising and contributing to this discussion. I have been dabbling in this practice myself and have an insight to share, and some questions. "Focus on the nose" has been discussed in this topic. In my own practice, and based upon some more detailed readings, I interpret this mean that one should focus on the breathing. Specifically, turn the mind to the sensations in the nose while inhaling and exhaling. It has been mentioned in various sources that focusing on the nose is the first step in tuning the breathing, and I think that is what is being alluded to here. It is not a suggestion to go cross eyed and look at the nose. My question has to do with keeping the eyes half closed / half opened. Which do you all find is more effective? I do not feel like I have this figured out yet. What I have experienced is that closing the eyes all the way and then trying to open them just enough to allow some light in generates a lot of tension. Where as relaxing the eyelids to a "half closed" position or "not fully open" position is a lot easier and less distracting. For me, the practice of keeping the eyes somewhat open brings about a more focused, if slightly more "shallow" sense of focus and center. When I meditate with my eyes fully closed, I can "go deeper" into internal awareness, but doing so lacks stability. The sense of "falling into the void" is very real for me.

You are either cultivating life, or hastening death. Everything else is a distraction to obscure the one true reality. Discuss as you see fit.

Everything we put into our bodies influences the quality of our qi. Those who smoke are going to have qi that is less clean than those who breath clean mountain air. Those who consume pre-processed and dead food are going to have less lively qi than those who eat fresh vegetables. Those who drink soda and alcohol will have less pure qi than those who drink clean water. Lao Tzu had something to say that is relevant here. "The fool hears it and falls apart laughing." The sages have passed down certain traditions through the ages for good reason, many of which do not even become evident until the disciplines have been followed for a long period of time. Anyone can walk the Path. There are many false paths and aberrant practices. A wise person once suggested to me that the higher levels of practice can only be built upon a table with four sturdy, equal length legs. Those legs are; health, finances, job/career/profession and relationships. Whenever you consider the validity of a person's teachings, take a look at their life and the stability of their table. It will be a very solid indicator of the depth of their practice. Having said all that, one of my favorite Taoist proverbs is, "If I only meet three people today, one of them can be my teacher." There are plenty of people out there with bad habits who can teach us things.

If you look at them as separate practices, you are already lost.

Is this something that manifests spontaneously during meditation? Is it an image that one consciously focuses upon?

Cool new advance in scientific bone healing. http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/02/07/215239/fracture-putty-can-heal-a-broken-bone-in-days

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Riley Lee yet. That guy has a whole slew of great CDs. A particular favorite of mine is "Music for Zen Meditation".

The observation of your teacher's that you have shared seems very wise. Good luck in your practice.

Do any of you have experiences similar to the following? I often find myself thinking about other people thinking about me / doing things that involve me. The most recent examples have been particularly mundane. For example today I spoke to a recruiter about a job. She mentioned a position with a company that I work with already. One of their sales reps is helping me with a product. I mentioned that it seemed like a small world, and that I would talk to the sales rep about it next time I saw her. As I was driving home half an hour later, I was thinking that the candidate search might be confidental and that the sales rep might not know about it. Therefore, it might not be appropriate to bring it up. So I called the recruiter to ask her about it. She said, "I can stop writing this email to you. I was just going to tell you that the search is confidential and not to bring it up." I ordered some hardware for work a few weeks ago. I had mentally lost track of it. For no particular reason, I seemed to remember that the hardware had not yet arrived. I was in the middle of writing an email to the woman in charge of purchasing when an email from her showed up telling me that the hardware had shipped and was going to be arriving. This one is not quite as erie. I have to monitor disk space usage on our servers. I do it randomly a few times throughout the week. I noticed that space was getting low on one of the servers. I emailed the two people in charge of it. Literally the second after I hit send, one of the people emailed me and the other person to tell us that they noticed the disk space was low. I have read previously that similar things happen with telephone calls. People will be thinking of other people and then wham, the phone will ring and the other person will be on the other end of the line. Do any of you have similar experiences? Theories?

Thanks for the replies. This concept of this being a common phenomenia (sp?) and global antennae leads me to wonder if a group of similarly sensitive people could get together, and attune to some of the meta messages that underly society. Perhaps some of the core beliefs that form the foundation of reality. Perhaps it might be possible to manifest positive messages. To offer focused healing energy, or positive affirmations. The combined focus of many acting like a radio transmitter of sorts. I would think it might be best to do it in the evenings, late at night... when most people are asleep and their conscious minds have drifted off.

I would challenge you to consider that comes down to purity of intent, and the ability to simplify. Simplicity is a virtue. The ability to prioritize, and to lose... to give up what we do not need and only hold onto and nurture what improves our lives can be done in any environment. There are some that are more difficult than others. A person tasked with a family and caring for others has less leeway to simply drop their responsibilities. Earning a living can put pressure on all of us. Staying fed and clothed, maintaining a residence to protect us from the element takes time and energy that must be spent earning money, to be traded for our needs. Yet at any time, we can take a moment to be in the moment. We can be with our breath, and allow it to be calm and settled. Once we become calm and tranquil, we can make that manifest in our world and for others. At any time we can accept life as it exists, and become okay with that acceptance. We do not need to retreat from society to accept it. Sooner or later, we all must return to it, even after the longest sabbatical.

Thank you. I always appreciate reading the older texts. Though the themes are repetitive, in that way they are like the path. A well worn groove fformed by repetition. The mind continually tamed and refined, thoughts allowed to leave and in their place, their absence appreciated. I swear that I read these things over and over again for the rest of my life, and never completely get it. Yet every time I read them, understand and internalize them even more.

The more intensely I am training, the lower my tolerance for alcohol and other mind / physiology altering substances becomes. I had some thai iced coffee today and felt like complete garbage a few hours later. The caffeine rush was too intense. It totally crushed the tranquil state I have been cultivating with meditation and qigong. I'm in my mid-30s. When I was younger, it did not bother me as much. Now that I have been practicing for a while, I feel like it sets me back most of the time. Every once in a while I can have a beer (love me some Guinuess) and feel relaxed without any after effects. Most of the time though, the mental change from even a single beer just tends to bum me out.

Interesting. Can you share some descriptions or examples of different types of manipulating techniques? I have been doing qigong for a while, and on a few occasions I have helped heal my girlfriend either by calming her down, or by giving her soothing energy to ease an injury right after it occurs (such as bumping into the corner of a desk or simple 'accidental' types of injuries like that). I am curious about what manipulations one might use on others. In my own practice, the ball exercise results in some pretty cool internal flows. Especially the rolling of the ball.

Ya Mu, You mention "projecting". I am curious. My limited understanding of medical qigong involves both pushing and pulling. What are your thoughts on that? How much of the time are you pushing energy into patients, versus pulling out of them?

I second HE's question. What do you mean by hyper conscious state? The first thing that comes to my mind is expanded awareness. I posted a topic earlier this evening about weird coincidences. Check it out. Would those fall into hyper-conscious?

The idea of having to drop out of society for a while is an interesting perspective. What lead you to that conclusion? I was of a similar mindset a few years ago. Then I read some of Thomas Cleary's translations, I do not remember if they were Buddhist or Taoist at this point (probably Taoist). The ancient master whose words were translated was saying that the way can be found anywhere, and that to retreat from society is not necessary. Simply practice diligently where ever you might be. In my limited experience, the length of practice seems to be the most important. By length, I mean number of years. There is something to be said for intensity of practice. But what really does it for me has been sustained diligence over the long haul. Sometimes I practice every day of the week. Other weeks I am too busy with work and only practice a couple of times. Over all though, once I got the qi flow going it just continues. Practice at that point becomes like rowing a boat. You just put your oars into the water from time to time to keep the boat moving forward. It can drift for a while on its own.

How many people are truly qualified as medical qigong practitioners? To me that seems to be a huge obstacle from the beginning. I personally know of two energy healers who make significant amounts of money in Asia. Both of them have the same story, yet I learned of them through two completely different avenues. One of them my Sifu knows. The other my co-worker (who is Chinese) knows through her father, because the healer is a child hood friend of her father's. Both of them have a nearly identical story. They make large amounts of money and donate it all to the temple. The practice is widely accepted in Asia. In the West, it seems like medical school focuses on results that can be reproduced by just about anyone. Look at surgery. Anyone can study to become a surgeon. The actual surgeries are reproduceable. "Anybody" (and I don't mean to use that term lightly) can go to school, cut up some cadavers, then pick up a scalpel and go to town on patients. Contrast that with what it takes to manifest high levels of qigong healing. It is one thing to be able to manipulate your own qi. It is another to affect the qi of another person. Neither of the healers I mentioned above will treat old people. Both refuse for the same reason. There is too much accumulated negativity and badness in older people. The healer has to absorb it to heal the person. It affects them too much. Even when healing the young and the middle aged, they often require a week or more of rest after an intense session. How are you going to fit that into a Western medical model where clinicians are expected to treat multiple patents a day / week? "Top notch surgeons" sometimes do multiple surgeries in a day. The other big obstacle is belief on the part of the patient. The patient has to believe in qi, believe that they can be better, and be open to the treatment. Qigong is not like a drug. A qigong healer helps the patient, but they cannot do it all. Other than those who study yoga and martial arts, who in the West is going to really be open to "weird mojo" like qigong? As for my personal experience, I have never had any "bone healing" but I have had a contusion (huge knot on my shin from getting kicked a few times during sparring) disappear in two days, no bruising, no nothing after my sifu laid his hands on me for about a minute. Qigong healing is very real. However, it does not fit into the Western way of things. There will never be a school that cranks out people with doctorates in Qigong who then work in hospitals and heal people. It takes a certain type of person to be a healer. And it takes constant practice and self discipline to keep your own body and energy levels at a place where you can heal others.

Thomas Cleary's works are practically priceless. I'm all for sharing knowledge, but you guys should really pay for this stuff. It is not right to steal the work of someone else.

If they are doing it properly, they have a simple life. Simple does not necessarily mean easy. No matter what path we choose to walk through life, we will be faced with challenges. The only real Daoist I know has said that the purpose of life is to help others. Although a monk or priest may have simplified their own life, that is simply the first step on their path. After that, the focus becomes on helping others and guiding them into simplicity, compassion, benevolence and the various other positive virtues that we can cultivate during our lives. To put things in perspective, the way to clarity passes through truth. How many of us can tell the truth and be truthful all the time? Often times there are social consequences attached to the truth, and it is easier to leave things unsaid. Often times the "easy" to do things will not necessarily be the "right" way. For those who have chosen to walk the "right" path, they might contest the perception that what they do is "easy".

In many ways, most of the Taoist philosophy can only be truly understood when perceived through the lens of personal practice and direct experience. The passage from the Tao Te Ching about warhorses running rough shod over the field, versus being retired to tend those fields is just as relevant to internal training methods, as it is to the politics and philosophies of war and its effect upon society. There are so many passages in that book that on the surface seem to be speaking of human interaction in society, yet once we develop a connection with our internal practices, become a source of guidance to further those practices. In fact, on the few occasions when I have met people who claim to be Taoists yet who swear that they are "only focused on the philosophy", I realize that they are impoverished in their understanding and practice. A person will never "get" it unless they walk the path.

From the opening, to the closing, via everything in between should flow as a continuous movement. The trickiest part for me has been getting the breath to go along with the program. By that I mean, maintaining a single continuous breath that never fully exhales or fully inhales.