Harmonious Emptiness

Not as a doormat, but yes, as an ultimate goal, I think it would be more satisfactory in terms of short term (not isolating one's self their entire life in hopes that the promise of immortality will be fulfilled), and long term (doing something for a higher purpose, instead of the futility of serving illusions - our selves-as-separate-beings.

But still, when was the last time you heard of anyone achieving yangshen immortality in the last 400 years? I prefer to set goals with higher chances of success before moving on to higher ones, but I'm not saying it couldn't be done with ideal circumstances and total dedication.

I don't mind if I enter rebirth in a similar surroundings. No being is created for the purpose of that being. All beings are created for the purposes of other beings. As an Immortal or human being, that's not going to change, so I might as well live my days for what they are rather than trading them in for an unreliable promise on the future. Sorry if that offends your path, but your faith ought to be strong enough not to depend on another person having faith in it.

Some qi gongs, especially medical qigongs, work directly with the 5 elements, 5 yin and yang organs, and these all have applications to the emotions. This is integral to Chinese medicine as well. For example, weak liver causes anger, weak spleen causes worry, strong liver gives ambition, stong spleen gives earthy calm. Here is a good website: http://www.fivespirits.com/shen.php

A lot of it, I would say, has to do with one's ability to relax, allow things to happen, and maintain attention to those things that happen. When you give attention to energetic responses of chi gung practices, the mental attention to the energy has an effect. It effects the way the body responds to it and this affects both the flow, the feeling of qi, and development and/or release of qi. This is how intent works, in my experience. Realizing the difference that the mind/attention makes on the behaviour and quality of energy is the beginning of understanding how intent works. One generally needs to have this experience before their intent is going to be effective, because they will develop a connection between their mind and qi, much the same as co-ordination is built between mind and body. When the palms face different areas of the body, this increases the effectiveness of attention because there is an energetic phenomenon happening in that area, making it far easier to use intent to draw, move, smooth, release, or whatever else with the qi. If someone is tense and not thinking about it, they are not likely to be actively working their qi in the same way. But if they have developed the sort of co-ordination of intent mentioned above, and are able to maintain a good body alignment and emotional equilibrium, especially with an intent focus on the lower dantien, they can practice sort of a "mild form" of chi gung throughout the day which will benefit them with less stress during and after work, more stamina during and after work, more emotional equilibrium, lower blood pressure, stronger immune system, better circulation, healthier joints, and likely more patience resulting in fewer errors.

Intention, attention, no tension, direction, progression .

Citrus Power cult thick skinned shiny veneer what are they hiding?

When fool rings your doorbell -- don't answer it.

Didn't notice this having been mentioned yet here, so I'll drop in quickly that a specific location of the dantien is more in the practice of Daoist martial arts like Tai Chi, especially Chen Tai Chi, because the dantien is like the center of gravity, and beginning source of all movement. My preferred instruction on finding the dantien center of gravity, for movement purposes, is from a Chen Xiaowang (19th century Chen family Taiji lineage holder) -- find the spot that remains still while turning and rotating the hips, turn the ball, then circles out from there -- reel the silkiness bébé.

"Quiet sitting" is quiet sitting. "At the height of stillness, there is motion." When motion arises out of stillness, inner work begins. How you navigate the route, whether from wisdom and instinct, or from a master's guidance, requires attention and work/practice, and differentiates "quiet sitting" from neidan.

Balancing yin and yang, firmness without aggression, flexibility without weakness, firmness and flexibility supporting and balancing each other, "When firmness and flexibility are balanced, yin and yang are in harmony; essence and sense merge, water and fire offset each other. This is what is called the inversion of water and fire." - Liu I Ming You can do this sitting, standing, walking. To say one can't work on Ming while sitting is an absolutist fallacy. "The substance of the Way is no mind, the application is forgetting words. The basis is softness, the foundation is purity and serenity. If it is to be carried out among people, it is necessary to be moderate in eating and drinking, to stop musing and mulling, to sit quietly to tune your breathing, and to sleep peacefully to nurture energy. When your mind does not race, then your nature is stable. When your body is not belabored, then your vitality is complete. When your spirit is not disturbed, the elixir crystallizes. After that you extinguish feelings in emptiness and settle the spirit in the absolute. This can be called attainment of the subtle Way without leaving home." -Ma Danyang Though, occasionally, translation can be less revealing than the original words, they are also often clear, as in the quotations above. While being part of a school and Daoist community may be exponentially more advantageous, personally, I find the writings of the early masters to be very helpful, much in the same way a Christian values the words of The Bible, while their pastor may help them to live them more fruitfully. Surely, working with a teacher who can guide one is beneficial, and you are very fortunate to be a student in Yuxian lineage. However, what teachers say to students can sometimes be true for those students in the context of what is being taught to them, while being limited in application without the teacher. Thus, the way these things make sense are on a level of understanding that one has with their teacher, speaking in a spiritual understanding beyond words. Yet, in the end, the path is the same as what the early masters tried to make clear in their books. Sometimes these books are vague, but that is often to let one discover the truth rather than be told what it is. The teachers may push the student in the right direction, obligating the student to find their way from there.

Thank you Vitali, and for that post. To opendao -- it's not simply absence of thoughts and desires, it's the stabilization of Xing and Ming which can take place from there. People who don't know about Xing and Ming and are unable to recognize internal changes will not get very far at all in neidan, true (and probably neither will I, though not because of this), but if one is able to follow the internal process of transformation, and does not just sit there like a dead log.. this is what I'm talking about as neidan practice which may be part of certain qi gong systems.

Though I agree that qigong and neidan work with different sides of the pre and post heaven states, there may be error in saying that they can't work on both. To cultivate elixer, the foremost requirement is a pre-heaven state of mind, being without thoughts and desires. Being pure attention. This state of mind can be maintained during qi gong practices, which results in that practice also leading the stability of xing and ming, and retrieving Xian Tian energies. I know that many will read this and say "no way, it's far to difficult for that," however, this is consistent with the vast majority of Neidan literature written by Quanzhen patriarchs. I'll provide some sayings from Ma Danyang below to illustrate my point. There are many more which consistently advocate simply clearing and calming the mind to stabilize energies and cultivate enlightenment, but I'll have to be brief in quotations here. from Taoist Meditation, edited and tr. by Thomas Cleary: "Learning the Way is a matter of self-enlightenment. Failure to realize enlightenment is caused by ignorance. If you want to break through ignorance, first clean your mind. This is a matter of purifying and calming it until it is perfectly clear. When you succeed at this you attain fulfillment. You do not necessarily need to ask another for instruction." "If people can master the path of purity and serenity, that is most excellent. Therefore scripture says, "If people can always be pure and serene, heaven and earth will resort to them." This "heaven and earth" does not mean the external sky and ground. It refers to the heaven and earth in the body. Above the solar plexus is called heaven, below the solar plexus is called earth. If the energy of heaven descends and the vessel of earth opens, so that there is harmony above and below, then vitality and energy spontaneously stabilize." "The substance of the Way is no mind, the application is forgetting words. The basis is softness, the foundation is purity and serenity. If it is to be carried out among people, it is necessary to be moderate in eating and drinking, to stop musing and mulling, to sit quietly to tune your breathing, and to sleep peacefully to nurture energy. When your mind does not race, then your nature is stable. When your body is not belabored, then your vitality is complete. When your spirit is not disturbed, the elixir crystallizes. After that you extinguish feelings in emptiness and settlethe spirit in the absolute. This can be called attainment of the subtle Way without leaving home." "Clarity and purity mean clarifying the mind source and purifying the energy ocean. When the mind source is clear, external things cannot disturb it, so feelings settle and spiritual illumination takes place. When the energy ocean is pure, wrong desires cannot affect it, so vitality is complete and the belly is full. So clarify mind as you would clarify water; nurture nonvolatile energy as you would nurture an infant. When nonvolatile energy blossoms, the spirit is effective. When the spirit is effective, nonvolatile energy transmutes. This is effected by clarity and purity. If you practice conscious, deliberate exercises, these are limited techniques. If you practice the principle of mindless noncontrivance, this is unlimited clear emptiness." I'll have to stop there for quotations, but this is the line of teaching I've come across consistently when studying the writings of patriarchs. More often than not, I see them saying that the mechanism is simple like this, and that complicated instructions are wayward paths of neidan. Thus, if cultivating the clarity and attention of mind and spirit, and dissolving self differentiation, is an integral part of a qigong system, that system, imho, could also be called nedian practice.

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that if you have internalized the martial posture points to where you do them comfortably, it will be fine to do GOT with those points aligned so long as they don't cause you to be stiff/tense which would limit chi flow. A lot of them are very similar to silk reeling moves so I naturally take silk reeling posture while doing them, and incorporate hip movement sometimes as that's become part of how I apply force from those positions, in this case drawing force. Seemed fairly seamless to roll from rolling ball to GOT.

I'll be dancing home hone in on seagull signal rest in the wave crest

I'm glad to see this topic as well. I think this was one of the many lessons in Lao Tzu saying "a knife that is over-sharpened will break."

I don't think I'll have much explaining to do. It's quite apparent that there is power in anything which sustains life. Why you need me to spell this out for you, however, does not give me much hope that talking about this with you will help you see beyond what you have already set in your mind. If you can't discover this already with all the resources in front of you, I have no desire to force you to see it.

Virtue exists in Dao, so when you have Dao, you have De. It's not simply giving merit. DDJ55: 55 1. One who embraces the fullness of Virtue, 2. Can be compared to a newborn babe. 3. Wasps and scorpions, snakes and vipers do not sting him; 4. Birds of prey and fierce beasts do not seize him; 5. His bones and muscles are weak and pliant, yet his grasp is firm; 6. He does not yet know the meeting of male and female, yet his organ is aroused— 7. This is because his essence is at its height. 8. He can scream all day, yet he won't become hoarse— 9. This is because his harmony is at its height. 10. To know harmony is called "the constant"; 11. To know the constant is called "being wise"; 12. To add on to life is called a "bad omen"; 13. For the mind to control the breath—that's called "forcing things." 14. When things reach their prime they get old; 15. This is called "not the Way." 16. What is not the Way will come to an early end. This is the same as "embracing the One" yet here it is "embracing Virtue." Having meditation experience, I'm sure you have some grasp of what that means, "embrace the One." The One is at the base of life. Embrace it and you embrace the "fullness of Virtue." This fullness of virtue is life preserving. What power is more precious than this?

more from DDJ51: 6. The Way gives birth to them, nourishes them, matures them, completes them, rests them, rears them, supports them, and protects them. 7. It gives birth to them but doesn't try to own them; 8. It acts on their behalf but doesn't make them dependent; 9. It matures them but doesn't rule them. 10. This we call Profound Virtue. Sure, you could say the Virtue of Dao, or the Dao of De, either way they both existed before before all things, and their Virtue is exemplified in what people value as virtue: giving without expectation or obliging reciprocation -- this is De in humanity, which reflects the way of Virtue in the the universe.

51 1. The Way gives birth to them and Virtue nourishes them;

The DDJ spoke about both the power of De, existing before even Heaven and Earth, and of it's manifestation in nature, humanity, and Dao. The history of Chinese literature and culture was immersed in poetic interpretations and usages. Things were not clearly stated as in modern scientistic English. Reading between the lines was always a part of anything profoundly spoken. Thus, it behooves one to understand the words deeper than the words themselves. This was the mode of communication at the time, when people often communicated in quotations from the Book of Songs, or by spontaneous metaphorical poetry. To assume that nothing was meant beyond the single dry words of any Jing/Classic is to fail miserably at the challenge posed by the masters who provide them for our reflection and study. As Thomas Cleary explains: "Chinese people, especially scholars, habitually used poetry to exchange ideas and find out what others were thinking. Individuals could be judged professionally, intellectually, morally, and spiritually by their sensitivity to subtle nuances in the symbolism of poetry." Surely you must know this CD.

I would now say it means "Classic on Dao and the power of Virtue" since it explains the power of De, as the virtuous giver, in the universe. Or "Classic of the power of Virtue as expressed through Dao," since the DDJ also shows how Dao exemplifies the power of virtue in operation, giving without owning and controlling, balancing and equalizing to bring about harmony in all facets of existence since the first emergence from non-existence.

Funniest English signs in China: http://picaphobia.com/picture/21883/Best-Chinese-English-Signs/

ROFL!!! "The compound for Argument (奻) is comprised of two building blocks for Woman (女). Unfortunately, in the past, Chinese culture did not hold woman in very high regard – you will see this in some of the compounds that use the building block for Woman (女). In this case, two women are unable to be in the same room without starting an argument..." edit to add: good site though. and, I laugh only because I hear this from women all time

Without taking the thread in a different direction, is it possible to note the reasons, in this book or otherwise, as to why vegetarianism cannot minimize the suffering of livestock?