The Way Is Virtue

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Use the force, Luke. Black currant seeds seem to be hard to find. Apparently Lowes sometimes sells black currant seeds, so you could try contacting them to see if they have any: http://www.lowes.com/cd_Lowes+Plant+Guide_253427968_?url=plant.aspx?code=L10503 Some plant nurseries sell black currant plants/seedlings, so if you check with them they may be able to tell you where you can get seeds: http://www.currantc.mybigcommerce.com/categories/Plants/?sort=priceasc http://www.whitmanfarms.com/plants.php?cat=70 http://www.rollingrivernursery.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&category_id=71&product_id=730&Itemid=26 http://www.directgardening.com/detail.asp?ProductID=4005&Source=CJDF&AID=10777784&PID=3470801 http://www.raintreenursery.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1 Edit: There is also someone selling a couple of black currant plants on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/1-2-foot-tall-Black-Currant-Plant-no-soil-attached-/370523976152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5644f331d8 Not sure how you can ship a plant in the mail without the plant dying or getting damaged, but maybe this person could provide some seeds as well if you inquire.

Hi Audiohealing. I wouldn't get too hung up on the terms such as qigong, neigong (nei kung). Different teachers use these terms in different ways. Neigong could be strictly sitting meditation or movement or standing or it could be a combination of moving, sitting, standing. Different teachers teach different things and different methods. I haven't done the movements in the "The book of nei kung", but strenuous is a subjective thing. Having to stretch and turn and bend in different ways can be strenuous in a sense, but if it is neigong it is all likely done in a completely relaxed way. I recall one user here said he got good results with this set of exercises. Results may not come right away however in any practice. Everyone's makeup and system is different so for some it takes longer than others. Persistence and naturalness is the key. Progress will come at its own natural rate. I am finding that a combined approach of sitting, standing, and movement forms is a good balanced approach although one certainly can get good results with just focusing on any one of these as well. Doing all three takes more commitment in time but does seem to be balancing things out more for me in the long run. They are all complimentary depending on which specific practices of each type you are doing. If all are done relaxed and naturally, without forced breathing and forced concentration or deliberately trying to guide or direct energy and such, then any of these practices should not be too unbalancing. Doing all three seems to balance things out even more however.

In my experience the best is to breath naturally. Taking the most natural approach we can manage in all things is actually the best, IMO. In this way we can avoid excessive swings and other imbalances caused by taking an unnatural or forced approach. Despite what we might think, things progress at their own natural pace and in their own natural way completely without any interference from ourself if we allow it. This may require us first working on various virtues such as patience and increasing awareness and acceptance of who and what we really are, etc. We each have to walk our own path and learn our own lessons however. What is natural for one may not be so natural for another at any given point in time and space. Some call it cultivating dao. Best to you Leon...

Hi Leon. It may seem rough right now, but most if not all people seem to manage to get through this type of experience OK, although it can be somewhat rough for a while for some. I don't have direct experience with this sort of occurence but these sites might provide some help: Kundalini Emergencies There is a section further down the page called "What you can do". The information on this site seems somewhat dated but may be helpful as well: Shared Transformation This group is based in Canada but offers free assistance for people having spiritual awakening experiences that they are having problems dealing with. They may be able to offer some advice: Spiritual Emergence Service Here is someone else who offers to help by doing a remote reading of your kundalini energy. She charges a fee ($50) though and I don't know about her at all, whether helpful or not, just came across the link: Kundalini Coach It might help to take long brisk walks outdoors such as in a park as that can help balance us out and ground us more. Hopefully others can make some suggestions as well that will be helpful for your situation. Let us know how you are making out with this. Best wishes to you...

Hi InfinityTruth. Yeah, some tension in the neck and shoulders can do it. You may well get conflicting advice but from my own experience you should keep the breathing natural, slow, deep, and relaxed. The breathing will begin to change naturally on its own over time if you don't try to control it or interfere with it. The most important point is to keep it natural. The rest will take care of itself. As someone else also mentioned, I find that doing moving qigong or internal martial arts like tai chi or bagua help a lot to ease tensions and excess energy build up in the body, which for many people can be in the area of the shoulders and neck but also can be elsewhere. Such excess buildups of energy in areas of tension or tightness can lead to what they call energy stagnation, which can be eased by doing some form of closing after meditation such as massaging the shoulders, neck, face, ears, and head, and also patting down shoulders, arms, torso and legs as well. Doing moving qigong or internal martial arts will help further to help ease tension areas and to ease any energy imbalances as well. Best wishes in your practice...

Hi Leon. What were you practicing and what leads you to believe you opened your kundalini, if you don't mind going into more detail about it?

Do you mean this one? http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/13767-strange-things-with-mco/

Hi Awake. Here are some thoughts, but I think there is no point typing in a reply if I am not up front and honest in regards to what I really think. We each ultimately have to make our own decisions, but something to consider is that before a person goes off seeking a guru or teacher and such, I think we have to first be in at least a somewhat fairly balanced place both mentally and emotionally. Otherwise we may just end up inadvertantly opening ourself to unscrupulous or deluded people who pass themselves off as gurus and masters of some sort or another and such, who either prey on vulnerable people for selfious or nefarious reasons or because they need others to help support their own delusions or false or egotistical thinking. Working on mental and emotional balance first to reach some sort of fairly balanced state would seem a good idea. This might include some forms of professional counselling or therapy if the issues are deep seated, or maybe something less formal if you can find something else helpful. Regarding work. Not too many people terribly want to have to go to work everyday and do various things they might not particularly like too much, but we all need to be able to make a living to support ourselves. Having to work at a job day in and day out may not be the most fulfilling thing to do with our time, but having the steady income from employment allows us to have the means to do other things that we do find fulfilling. Some people have to really struggle jsut to get a really crappy job, so having any job that is half decent is not such a bad thing at all in context. Best wishes to you...

It is perfectly normal to feel things like the heart beating stronger or blood pumping etc. as one gets into a more relaxed state. Sometimes if we go into a really relaxed state certain normal functions within may seem very amplified or at least come more into our awareness, but this is just a change of perception due to our being in a somewhat altered state of consciousness. You say a medical doctor has checked you out and told you that your heart rate and blood pressure are normal. It would seem you have nothing to worry about. The imagination can easily lead us astray if we let it...

It depends where you are located. In North America there are usually some attacks on people every year by black bears and sometimes by grizzlies as well. Black bears in general are somewhat more benign than grizzlies, but black bears are more abundant and their habitat is a larger area than that of grizzlies, so more contact with people. Although black bears are somewhat more benign than grizzlies in general, being near black bears when they have cubs is always very dangerous, and there are some black bears which just seem to be aggressive bears for whatever reason that may suddenly attack a human without provocation of any kind. There are still cougar attacks on humans in North America from time to time as well.

Interesting. Thanks exorcist.

Thanks exorcist. If you are too busy then no worries. Added later: This paticular article seems to be written mainly from an academic perspective so it is probably not worth spending too much time on it... There is some interesting info in there however.

Thanks!

Hi exorcist. Always interesting. In your experience, what level of internal qigong would a person have to reach to be able to repel mosquitoes? Having opened the small heavenly circulation or having opened the large heavenly circulation, or something else?

Hi tccii. I am just familiar with the descriptions of him from his books and from what little else he revealed about himself in his comments in his books. He seemed to me like a very sincere person and very dedicated to helping preserve Buddhist and some other Chinese cultivation teachings. Here's a couple of blurbs on him for any who may not be familiar with him: Luk, Charles, (Upasaka Lu Kuan Yu: 1898-1978): Translator and Writer on Ch'an. Born in Canton, studied with Hutuktu (Tulku) of Sinjiang (a Vajrayana teacher of both Kagya and Gelug lineages) and master Hsu Yun, who urged him to translate Chinese Buddhist texts. Dedicated the last 20 yrs of his life (from 1956) to this cause. Lived in exile in Hong Kong, maintaining a worldwide correspondance. First visited Europe in the 1930's - visited London and met Christmas Humphreys in 1935.' (The Buddhist Handbook). Born in Canton in 1898 and died in 1978. His first Master was Hutuktu of Sinkiang -an enlightened Great Lama. His second Master was the Venerable Ch'an Master Hsu Yun, the best-known modern Ch'an Master. Throughout his life Lu K'uan Yu contributed to Buddhist publications in India, London, Paris, and New York, for he passionately devoted his life to presenting Chinese Buddhist texts to Westerners because he wanted to preserve Buddhism. From "Ch'an and Zen Teaching There is a list of his books here: http://hsuyun.budismo.net/en/luk.html A notable Western student of Lu Kuan Yu was Richard Hunn, who is also now passed away. Best...

Hi tccii! Thanks for the further details about Zhao's tradition. Just to be clear, nowhere did I suggest that Zhao's book describes a complete system, nor have I suggested one could properly practice internal alchemy based just on Zhao's book. However, Zhao's book would seem to be a good reference book for those interested in learning more about internal alchemy practices in general. I actually am also of the opinion that most if not all people need to study this sort of practice under the guidance of an accomplished teacher, if one can find one and the teacher is willing to teach them. I am also quite familiar with Lu Kuan Yu's background as well. I've enjoyed reading several of his books. Best wishes to you...

Hi Golden Path. My point was that your previous statement that Zhao Bi Chen's method does not include the cultivation of yuan qi seems to be quite at odds with what is actually written in his book. The cultivation of yuan qi seems central to Zhao's method. I get the feeling that you may have never actually read Zhao's book but are actually repeating things passed to you from your teacher/tradition? I believe Zhao Bi Chen said he sought out and learned from various teachers, including both Buddhists and Taoists, from what I recall. He also mentioned that he encountered a number of false 'masters' in his search as well. The point being though that according to what he wrote he did learn directly from at least one master who was accomplished in Taoist internal alchemy, in Zhao's opinion anyway. Your implication seems to be that Zhao Bi Chen's book was mainly based on Wu Liu Pai writings and not on Zhao's personal experience, if I understand you correctly, but this seems to be at odds with what Zhao Bi Chen wrote anyway. I of course did not know Zhao Bi Chen so I can't say one way or the other that everything he wrote was really based on his own personal experience and practice. I agree with you that one really needs to learn internal alchemy from an accomplished teacher, however; as most no doubt need the guidance of such a teacher to get on the right track and to stay on the right track. No two people are the same so likely no all encompassing method could ever be described completely in a book. Practice must no doubt be geared and adjusted somewhat to each individual. Best to you in your practice...

Zhao Bi Chen's method does seem to describe a method that primarily involves cultivating yuan qi (primordial qi). I am curious why you think that the method described in his book does not include the cultivation of yuan qi?

Hi Flynn. IMO, if aikido and wing chun are the only options available to you in your area, then you could maybe go and meet the teachers at the two schools and see which of the teachers/schools seems to be taking an approach that is most in line with what you are looking for. I think you can learn valuable things from most any martial art, and what all you can get out of it depends to a large extent on the emphasis and understanding and approach of the teacher or teachers. Is the particular school mainly focused on fighting and breaking heads or competitions or do they seem to have some understanding that martial arts is a way of training oneself at many different levels and fighting skill is only one aspect of it? If they seem to show some understanding of the latter and their approach seems to resonate with you then you can always give it a try for a while to see if you like it. Why am I saying to check it out first? Well, as one example, one time I heard about a certain Chinese martial arts teacher in my area at the time who taught various martial arts including bagua zhang, and who some were recommending, so being interested in learning bagua zhang I signed up to learn bagua zhang. After attending classes there for a month or so it became obvious to me that the teacher was teaching bagua zhang basically as just another exteranl style 'form' and seemed to have little understanding of the internal aspects of the art. The teacher seemed to be quite accomplished at 'hard style' martial arts but I was mainly interested in learning bagua zhang as a system of internal cultivation so I moved on. It all depends on what a person is looking for and much also depends on the approach and understanding of the teachers. Some 'external' style teachers have at least some knowledge in internal cultivation as well, so it does depend a fair bit on the teacher and the tradition they are coming from, IMO.

You can't really judge the efficacy of a style based on a few matches between practitioners, as much of it really depends on the skill and level of the particular practitioners, but anyway, this wing chun practitioner did very well against two different taekwondo practitioners in what looks like pretty much full contact bouts:

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying, but here's some thoughts. Our moods and behaviour can affect other people we interact with in many ways, and we often may be unaware of just how much it can impact others around us. If various people keep bringing it up then it may be that it is something that is impacting them enough for them to keep noticing and bringing it up. Of course most of us can't simply just snap our fingers and change our mood or behaviour so easily, but at least we can try to look into what other people are feeding back to us and see if it is something we can maybe work on. On the other hand, in some cases it may really be that it is the other people who are over reacting due to certain biases or misunderstandings, or maybe because they are just busy bodies. So maybe a balanced approach is to give due consideration to both sides of the coin and try to figure which route might be the best for making things go smoother in the long run. I would suggest it is not so much about fault or blame, but how we might work with it to make improvements to the situation to make things go smoother overall. I'm not suggesting that I think that is an easy thing to do though. For myself, being a very introverted person, it is something I have to keep reminding myself to keep working on more. It is certainly not one of my strong points...

Different teachers say different things in regards to whether the eyes should be open or not, or whether it even matters. Some teachers say to leave the eyes open just a bit, others say it is fine to close your eyes. Some teachers advise keeping the eyes open just a little if a person is inclined to day dreaming or getting too drowsy when practicing. I personally find that I can get into a deeper relaxed state if I close my eyes. The key points are really just staying fully relaxed and breathing slowly and deeply and completely relaxed and keep everything as natural as you can manage. Avoid straining. The reason I mentioned it is better to practice in the evening if time is limited is because all the stresses and trials we go through during the day can stress us out and tense us up and generally throw our systems out of whack to some extent or other, and in regards to a problem you mentioned in the past, im my experience it is better to do some standing before going to sleep to help bring one's system back into balance before retiring for the evening. Good luck in yur practice.

Ok, yeah, it is probably a good idea to not continue if you have confirmed that it does raise your blood pressure. The reason I was asking about whether you were focusing your mind on anything is because focusing on certain points or areas of the body in meditation can apparently raise blood pressure. When I stand in ZZ I don't focus on anything in particular and just try to relax my body and mind as much as I can, although I do keep a slight awareness of my lower dantian area when I first start standing and then just relax my mind and don't think of anything in particular. I always just breath completely relaxed and naturally as well. I don't have a blood pressure monitor however so I don't know what effect if any doing ZZ would have on my blood pressure.