Harmonious Emptiness

Thanks for your reply, and pretty much every post you've made in the last few days. Very helpful perspectives and experiential history!

I've recently started to call it "liquidating my assets"

This is a discussion I am interested in, though I myself know very very little about Longmen Pai. It's been a little while since I read Opening Dragon Gate. Could you provide a chapter or page number where repentance is specifically mentioned? The term has been used to signify various teachings/practices

Your first post here was especially excellent.. glad you are still taking some time to write here.. In regards to the above quote, are there particular techniques you would recommend for someone who is not a Tantric adept, in order to transmute the energy? I find a sort of energetic wu-wei meditation before going to sleep helps quite a bit, and I'm thinking you might have extra guidance for those practicing retention in order to keep the energy in balance which you have found particularly effective, especially for those with less expertise than yourself..??

Thanks for finding those! Really? She seemed to have had the best teachers around, including Li ZiMing, according to the sub-info. Is it just the performance that makes it wushu, or something about the form(s), or lack of it (maybe)? Could she really be that good with such high level teachers without going 'beyond wushu'? So, also, what about just taking a bunch of Baguazhang silk reeling and circle walking and improvising the changes. This is frowned upon generally? I guess unless it's part of a spontaneous qi gong, in which case it's not Baguazhang? I'm a jazz musician of various styles, so I can't help but see the silk reeling as sort of "riffs and runs" to use here and there depending on "how the spirit moves you" whereas the forms I guess are more like ballads. It doesn't take an awful long time to get comfortable with the silk reeling patterns, so I'm not sure why people don't break out into their improvisations sooner, just to play around..

Found this interesting video which in the description talks about Youshengong ("swimming body movement" it says) as a qi gong. Is this "shen level"? Swimming Dragon? I would be interested to learn what this means if anybody knows. Here's the link to the video and description with additional links to videos of more famous internal style grand masters masters, including one of Li ZiMing:

A question for the baguazhang "players" - how much of baguazhang is spontaneous when your practicing it? Does one learn some palms and fists and then just go for a spontaneous bagua dance, or is there mostly specific sequences to all movments? Thanks

I've also done more than my fair share of customer service both on the phone and face to face, and I won't say that it is easy or that I have the magic talisman to never "fall from grace" or feel worn out after continuous interactions like your inquiring of. Though I have found some tricks that help until I can clean my energy with qi gong and meditation (one up side is that these environments force me to keep up with practice! haha). One, partly learned from an ancient Egyptian text, is that if you have to listen to complaints, let the person sweep out all of their *#^* while you basically stand at an indirect angle. This is what the person wants to do, like sneezing out their anger, fear, sorrow, hatred, etc. Once they have dumped it all on the floor you can better approach them with "a loving heart" and thy to help them find the center in the same way that you approach them from. This is also very "Aikido." I find it also helps to consider the elemental aspects of it. Anger is wood/liver, sometimes combined with fire/heart. To "burn wood" with fire may just result in more fire, so it helps to first put out the fire with earth. You can direct the fire with water (such as mentioned in the second paragraph) and then put out the fire with earth. So as not to increase the fire again, you can control anger/wood with metal/intuition which may translate as understanding what they are angry about so as to solve the problem, while also paying attention to the subtle "games" that they are playing so that they don't take over. So, water, earth, metal / yielding:courage, stability:tranquility, attention:intuition. It's sort of funny how yielding is connected to courage, but when we are courageous we go with the moment -not resist it. This also allows the dirt to slide off like "water off a ducks back," at least until you get some time to bathe in clean water (qi gong practice) to wipe of the residual filth . Some Tibetan incense can be good to burn during this "bathing" too to purify the environment you are "bathing in."

This may, or may not, speak to you: To quote Ancestor Lu [Dongbin]: "People usually fear death, but when they become seriously ill they long for a quick death to relieve them of their misery, and when they are utterly exhausted in a perilous situation they want to die quickly to escape their suffering. When you look at life and death in reverse this way, you break right through the mental block." (Cleary translation)

Artists who seem to maybe have had spontaneous Holy Spirit/Kundalini renaissance/Awakening Obviously drugs makes it difficult to determine but some experience that lasted and opened their senses to One Sense

I've started trying to pick up some Tai Chi basics again in hopes to have some progress before starting lessons. I'm finding Chen silk reeling to have a real qi gong flavor to it. Perhaps I don't have too much difficulty with the softness having most of my MA experience in western boxing which seems quite relaxed in comparison to karate. I also play drums which utilizes a lot of loose/tense action in the wrists and a bit in the elbows. After learning a few different versions of Chen and Bagua silk reeling, it seems almost like I could pick up most of a form from watching a demonstration, but I guess once I finally get into a class I'll find out all the little things that I'm missing.

What I'm suggesting involves the qi you will have just generated from the qi gong so it is actually a qi gong meditation, not the same as the sleeping one when you have not just done qi gong. the body is sweating out toxins, cleaning house to welcome chi and shen.

This is my approach as well. Seems most consistent with "The Classics" of Nei Gong. I do let some energy raise to my head but only by its own will really, and it comes and leaves like good friends...

I recall a number of years ago trying to learn some tai chi basics from a video and they mentioned [a technique called] "woman hands" which seemed like limp wrists but I've come to learn (from videos....) that this is never the case and there is always some relaxed but ever-readiness in the muscles.

After qi gong

A sitting practice after qi gong can be very very effective to sort of "metabolize" the energy and let it settle. I would suggest adding an extra 20 minutes of sitting after doing horse stance. Just sit with a straight back, relaxed shoulders, and relax everything but the regal posture. This doctor may have unblocked the energy, but it sounds like you need a practice like this for your body to understand whats going on in order to be able to govern the qi with ease. Also, do keep the tip of your tongue up behind your gums. edit: correction, it's actually the spirit that governs the qi, but the body plays a, perhaps administrative, part in this.

Hey kentucker4. I remember in an earlier thread you mentioned that the set you do ends with focus on the middle dantien, also if I remember there was no other closing brush down. I'm guessing the idea is to focus on the middle dantien at the end with the assumption that the jing has been refined into chi and then can be transmuted to spirit which is said to happen more or less near the middle dantien. However, I'm not sure that the jing is necessarily even being refined into chi, and if you're not grounding and closing then I could imagine how this might result in chaotic sexual energy. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that your teacher is just better able to "metabolize" this energy. The same practices are not necessarily best for all types of people. There tends to be high consensus that the post qi gong meditation is essential (technically also qi gong in this case). "Sitting and Forgetting" or Emptiness meditation allows the qi to settle and nurture and aids the practice of allowing it to flow naturally and unobstructedly, in my experience. Do you practice sitting meditation? If you are not able to sit like this for 20+ minutes then that might shine some light on your current ability to metabolize this energy. I'm pretty sure I mentioned a closing brush down in the last thread. Have you tried this at all yet? Keep in mind, it's Spring right now, so everyone is "feelin' the heat" a bit more than usual. It can be a time of great vital power if it's not squandered.

One practice for clearing the mind is to suspend any thought of good or bad, right or wrong, just take "as is" and enjoy the different colours. This is as important in Taoism as it is in Buddhism. I would suggest learning Taoist practices while studying Buddhist and Taoist writing. I find that Taoism and Buddhism sort of hold a couple of puzzle pieces of the other which make it much easier to understand and some of the others teaching. I suggest picking up a copy of The Sutra of Hui Neng for the Buddhist side of things in your case since it has a lot that can be worked on by yourself. Practicing Taoist martial arts can lead to freedom as the spirit follows the body and the mind learns to just sit back and watch. Starting with some basic Chi Kung breathing first is highly advisable. Some vipissana practice can be good too, and practiced during Chi Kung or Tai Chi, just paying attention (just observing, not judging or trying to understand) all sensations, emotions, feelings etc. to paraphrase "when you take a large breath, you know that you take a large breath, when you take a small breath you know that you take a small breath. When you are starting to breath in, you know that you are starting to breath in. When breathing out... when you smell earth... when an emotion starts to rise...."

No need to choose only one really. Lots of Taoist and Buddhist writing borrows from each other. To avoid judging people all together I would say Buddhism is more geared towards that, especially in the Bodhisattva paths and writings such as from Shanti Deva. Studying with an experienced Taoist teacher could also be very humbling however, perhaps making one realize that they really aren't qualified to qualify anyone's worth, including themselves, and being rather content with such a position. One martial art with which to apply Taoist philosophy while also having balance between offense and defense is Baguazhang. Chen Style Tai Chi as well. Doing a search on "sitting and forgetting" or "zuowang" meditation might help quiet the mind. For ADHD you could check out Synaptol, a homeopathic remedy without amphetimines, if it is seriously effecting your life. I would get a proper diagnosis first though, at least from an accredited Doctor of Naturopathy (ND).

It's said that Chuck Norris can cut through a hot knife with butter!! (aahhh, couldn't resist..)

When Alexander Bell invented the telephone he had 3 missed calls from Chuck Norris Chuck Norris doesn't turn the light off, he turns the dark off Death once had a near Chuck Norris experience Chuck Norris once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are known today as Giraffes. Chuck Norris can cut through a hot knife with butter

Personally, I think scriptures are of immense value -- if read wisely. In other words, one needs to know when they are looking for the scripture to do the work for them, or to "figure out" the answer like it can be written down on the chalk board. Scriptures mostly don't hide that they are sign posts pointing in a particular direction where the reader might run into the answer and discover it for themselves. Having a teacher with you who can say "turn left, turn right" is definitely good IF they really have their eyes open and know where to go. So scriptures can't say "turn right, turn left" since they can't see where you're facing (so to speak), however they are the words of some of the greatest teachers who have ever lived, and the words they write are what they thought to be the most fundamental things which everybody must first understand, imo, so these words can be often be of huge benefit. There is a saying "he who sees from the outside in sees with 8 eyes." However, sometimes you might know better than a teacher as to exactly where you are and the obstacles that are most obstructive to your current progress, and you can look for guidance in scriptures. I think, if someone is looking for an answer they probably won't find much, but if they find a way to practice and they practice diligently then they have found a teacher. In my opinion, the most important job of any teacher is to get a student to become so interested that they no longer put the responsibility or fate of their learning on a teacher and basically start to teach themselves.

I think maybe the only constant is to stay with Tao so that you know what's right and what's wrong; not letting emotions or pride dictate responses.

Which one is more Taoist, Dems or Reps? Difficult, since each has the missing quality of the other one. Where the Reps have seemingly less government, they tend to be far more strict in law and prohibitions. Dems have more maternal approach. Maybe, "know the male, but keep to the female" - Lao Tzu. Neither one resembles Taoism though..

I did think it was funny the other day when I clicked on this video to go to you tube and it had 7,777 view. My numerological number is 7. What does that mean? Means I believe in numerology I guess...