mjjbecker

https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/49349-help-needed-to-translate-alchemy-book/?do=findComment&comment=891527

The translator referenced here has been a personal friend of mine for some years now, and asked me if I would post on this. As long timers here know, I said I would never post here again, so that should give some idea of my regard for the person in question. He is someone who I have spent a fair amount of time around here in Beijing, so I can vouch for his credentials directly. Most importantly, this is something that I believe can benefit a lot of people, and that is why I am happy to lend my support to it. So, why participate? What qualifies this person to translate these kinds of works? Firstly, he has completed a degree course in TCM at a prestigious university in Beijing, in the Chinese language. He is now doing post graduate studies in Taiwan, again in the Chinese language. Anyone who knows anything about TCM knows that it is inseparably connected to Daoist thought and principles. Someone who sincerely studies Chinese medicine is also doing so the same in respect of the Dao. Further to his academic studies, my friend has also sought out capable and qualified experts in Chinese medicine, at his own personal expense in time and money (and continues to do so.) He has always shared what he has learned with others, and not just kept it to himself. I can personally testify to his skills and sincerity. He is a practicing, lineage Daoist. He has teachers who are authentic lineage members. Not theorists, faux philosophers, or lightweight intellectual dandies, but people who live and breathe the Dao. People who drink deeply from the well, not the typical shallow draught brigade. As if full time studies were not time consuming enough, in the years that I have known him, he has always been busy helping numerous people with numerous problems, from medical issues, to spiritual assistance from authentic, legitimate Daoist lineage masters. This is something he continues to do. I know the subject of college tuition fees is a thorny one. Those who have worked to pay their own way through college know how hard this is. Imagine doing so in a foreign country and culture. There are some who feel they should get something for nothing, but ultimately someone has to pay. People have bills to cover, not to mention their own precious time to use wisely. There has been, and continues to be, much debate over what Daoism is, and is not. I would think anyone who sincerely wants to know would jump at the chance of supporting a person who sincerely wants to share this knowledge; a person who has the academic and intellectual ability to do so, and who has access to recognised, lineage Daoist masters who can advise and guide on the important details. My friend could easily just read these books and enjoy them for himself. He doesn't personally need to translate them, and he already has well paying translation work. Translating obscure texts doesn't pay anything like what commercial work does, and not many translators actually have a clue about this kind of material. This is a great opportunity for people who don't have Chinese language skills and access to authentic sources. I would urge people to take it. If not, then it is a real loss for non-Chinese speakers, and real understanding of these subjects will remain privy to only a small number of people. I'm returning to my self-imposed exile, so please direct any questions you have to the OP.

I would like people to recommend particular practices that they have found beneficial. I realise that this can span a fairly wide area of experience, and so I hope others can respect that. I think it would be particularly useful for people to discuss their own experiences, rather than to attack or disparage what others have, or are, doing. I can assure you I've had my eyes opened by a lot of things that I didn't expect, and found prejudices to be deeply unfounded. So, please, some positive recommendations. The idea here is to offer people some beneficial areas for them to investigate. Everyone will have their own particular inclinations, and so there will be differences of opinion. That is fine, as long as people remember everyone finds their own particular path, some of whom will be fellow travelers, and others who will be seeking the same destination but via a different route. That a particular path did not suite one person does not mean it is not right for another. Finally, I would request that if someone trolls, please do not respond, but simply ignore them. That way they have no effect on the conversation and will soon disappear (either by choice or by moderator intervention). Thank you.

I could not move him. It was just like trying to push a large tree over. Nothing, not the slightest give. What the ****! Only moments before I had watched one of my fellow students win his pushing hands match. Now I was giving it my all and nothing was happening. It didn't make sense. I had come into the class and surprised several national pushing hands champions. I'd pretty much beaten everyone. I had to give up here. My teacher had made his point. I was 19 and in pretty good shape, but this wasn't any battle of strength or stamina. I had made my first encounter with neigong, or internal training. My next lesson would be a zero inch strike which jolted me like the feeling you get in a car crash. There was no talk of qi, or anything mysterious. Such ability came from the correct training of a set of exercises, the 24 yin and yang neigong exercises. Once learned and practised for 100 days, a person could take someone jumping onto their stomach from 6 feet off the ground. The 24 exercise yin and yang neigong set is a part of traditional Wu taijiquan's training, though in the past not often taught even to inside the door students. Now it is taught and acknowledged by the mainline Wu family branch under Eddie Wu. In a private conversation my teacher once told me how a Hsing I expert had refused to hit him as his 'qi' would kill my teacher. My teacher said do it anyway. The Hsing I man did-and was amazed when nothing happened. He hit my teacher all over the torso, to no effect. Surely amazing internal strength! I was later to learn however that several Western strongmen had displayed similar feats of strength, from having people jump onto their stomachs to hanging by the neck from a hangman's noose! And then I read about Ueshiba sensei, or O'sensei as he has been titled. Many curious stories have been told about his abilities, but most relevant here is his encounter with a karate student. Keen to test Ueshiba, this student was allowed to strike Ueshiba in the torso. Now, we are NOT talking about the young Ueshiba who worked in the lumber fields, but the old, skinny, saintly looking one. Well, the karate student hit Ueshiba, and to his amazement had no effect whatsoever. So he did it again. Unfortunately he got angry and wouldn't believe this was happening. So Ueshiba invited him to punch again, this time projecting the energy back and the student broke his wrist. Amazing! Ki power! Hmm So, onto an anecdote by Ellis Amdur. Near the end of his life, the great Wang Shujin was dying of cancer, and severely weakened by his illness. His walk was shuffling and his breathing laboured. According to Marnix Wells, Wang was also suffering from diabetes. So, he was close to death when Mr Amdur met him. That did not stop Wang from being able to knock flying a high level karate man with his infamous belly strike. Qi? Maybe, but it hadn't stopped his health deteriorating. It is possible that Wang's demonstrations involving people striking his legs had ultimately led to his cancer of the ankle. London. Me. Here I am at a Systema seminar. I don't really want to go along, but what the hell, its an excuse to visit London and see some friends. One of my friends has trained for some time in this method and is quite well known by the Russians present. Introductions are made, including one gentleman who reputed used to work for the Russian secret service. I don't know about that, but he surely was a formidable individual. I took one of his zero inch 'taps' and it certainly got my attention. It went right through me, and not in a pleasant way. Not like any of your 'normal' strikes. Anyone who has participated in a Systema class or seminar and who has felt their strikes would certainly be a 'believer'. They come from all directions, with no 'wind-up', and they work. They can hit to knock out, incapacitate or resuscitate. Hmm. Just like those stories of old Asian martial arts masters. Just to clarify, non of this feels like the famous 1-3 inch punch of Wing Chun fame, whereby force is generated by torquing the wrist and using the shoulder and lats. Shotokai karate is famous for its 'soft' no tension punch. They say being hit by one of these punches takes everything out of you and makes you want to curl up and die. Not dissimilar to the Systema strikes. Interestingly, while the Russians had power, the other people at the seminar, including people who had done Systema for several years, well, they didn't look too impressive. The impression I got was the Russians had something and they weren't passing it on. Unfortunately the attitude of not passing this knowledge along has been prevalent over the years. So, the mystery of qi, its existence, or not, has been argued over instead. Before I move on, let me recap. Schools, both eastern and western, have had within them special conditioning exercises. These have allowed people to develop refined body movement and strength. This refined movement and strength can, and has been applied by experts even when weak with serious illness though. So, it is not simply strength in the body building or callisthenic model. If it was purely muscular strength, then how would an elderly Ueshiba and a dying Wang be able to do what they could? So it must be qi then? Nope. Refined body skill and awareness. How can I say this? Well, two accounts of what qi actually does do to a person when used in a martial sense. The first one came from Glenn Morris, in one of his books relating to martial arts and qigong. I can't remember which one as I no longer have the books to hand. Dr Morris recounted a story whereby some 'boob', decided to test a local kung fu masters skill by jumping him at the bus stop. The master swatted the boob for his trouble and they went on their way. That however was not the end of it. A short time after the boob ended up in hospital, his bodies vitals shutting down and the doctors at a loss to explain-or help. Fortunately for him, the master he had attacked got wind of his situation, came by the hospital and healed him. The second one comes from my time within the Mo Pai. It is one of several related stories. While grappling with one of his students, Kostas accidentally released some qi into his student. Again, the said student ended up in hospital, again with the doctors unable to explain or help. Kostas contacted John Chang and I understand it was with the intervention of John Chang's teachers spirit the student was cured. I know of other related incidents but I am not going to relay them, (please do not PM or email asking about them). So I am of the opinion that qi, and refined body mechanics are quite separate creatures, based on personal experience as well and information gained. Some masters may combine the two, some may be able to switch between the two, but they are NOT one and the same. A major change to physical training came about with Joe Weider's popularisation of separating muscle groups for training. It seemed to revolutionise sport, and the late Donn Draeger was certainly an enthusiastic proponent. Draegers advice and training helped Anton Geesink astound the Judo world when he won the Olympic title in 1964. Weight training clearly had some benefit where martial sport training was concerned. Cue another Ellis Amdur anecdote, this time relayed to him by Donn Draeger. By all accounts Draeger was a phenomenal athlete and martial artist, a fantastic combination of physical ability and talent. While Wang Shujin was living in Japan, Draeger took Ba Gua lessons from him. Wang had Draeger circle walk around a tree for several years, as per tradition, (apparently, I've never done Ba Gua). Sometimes Wang would decide to play a game of tag while Draeger was doing this, 'giant chased by leviathan' as Mr Amdur put it, 'with the giant always being caught'. Picture it. A large Caucasian athletic male being chased around a tree by a fat old Chinese man in his 60's, the athlete losing every time. On one occasion Wang commented to Draeger that his problem was he lacked control of his body, ( some might say an astounding comment given Draeger's achievements). Wang proceeded to demonstrate what he meant. And one day, Wang visited Donn at his small home, and in the conversation, said to him, "Your trouble is you have insufficient control of your body," reached over and picked up a meteorite, the size of a shotput that Donn used for a paperweight. He took a pose on one leg, extended his arm straight out and held the meteorite, palm DOWN, for ten minutes, immobile, then shifted to his mirror image and did it again for another ten. Ellis Amdur Again, we have a fat 60 odd year old man, astounding an athlete who trained using modern western weight lifting. Now, Wang's comments really ARE the crux of the matter: "...control of your body..." Not qi, not even physical strength in the usual muscular manner we associate with strength. Body control. Now, what really helped me to crystallize my thoughts on the whole matter was Dan Harden's comments on E-budo. Mr Harden trains in a form of Aikijujutsu and has learned, for want of a better word, the applicable gong training. As he commented, to howls of outrage by some 'traditionalists', the correct solo training of the body is the difference between getting the remarkable abilities of the top Aiki masters, or not. Not only that, but that this training has been a core part of martial arts from other countries, notably the internal arts of China. Nothing mystical, not qi, but the correct training of the body. Physical exercises that develop a refined body awareness. Now Mr Harden is on record as saying he is happy to teach the exercises to sincere people, not for monetary gain either. He has invited people as guests to visit him and several have and have posted their experiences on E-budo. Some of them were fervent doubters, but converted by the results of the training. Not only does Mr Harden train people, but he has mentioned other people and groups who are willing to do the same. In conclusion, much of the abilities displayed by famous internal arts and Aiki masters were gained from practising a series of solo training exercises that developed a refined level of body awareness. This explains why some masters could display seemingly amazing feats, even when seriously ill in their old ages. Such abilities are not about qi powers, though qi can and is developed by some of these training methods. Qi is different, and very few people seem to develop that to the level whereby they can apply it in combat. Sorry about the length of this post/article. It is the summation of nearly two decades of though on the subject. I hope it will be of benefit to some of you. Nope, I'm not stopping there Dan Harden's comments on E-budo. This is gold! Read and treasure! The thread references several teachers and methods for this kind of training if you are interested in following it up. http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38747 For those interested I have again uploaded Farmer Burns training course. The copyright is long expired on this, though if you have money to burn you can buy it for $35 from Matt Furey... http://rapidshare.com/files/149705077/Less..._Burns.pdf.html I haven't seen any books or videos that I thought were helpful with this kind of training. Most of the usual advice is vague and unhelpful. My own tips: If you practice exercises from a traditional school of combat, such as the standing practice of various schools, repetitive drilling exercises, etc. you need to be spending hours, not minutes doing them. Half an hour a day is nice, but it won't develop the kind of awareness of your body that old masters had. Hours, not minutes. You need to have your mind on your body while you practice. From the soles of your feet to your finger tips. What is happening? What can you feel? Where is your balance? This is very important. This training is not just about developing strength, but very much awareness of your body. Interestingly enough, if you think carefully about your balance and your dantien, it will do wonders not only for your body awareness, but also take your mind of the pain in your legs. Remember, the soles of your feet, to your finger tips, via your dantien. Now, bearing the above in mind, have a look at this body training clip from Tong Bei, (I'm sure I first saw this referenced on that E-budo thread): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ua4VICAsGc What is seen is not important. What he is AWARE of and FEELING INSIDE is. Bear that in mind. From Tong Bei to Tong Long to Hung Gar to Hsing I, they all have their body training. What the student needs to be most aware of is what is happening inside of THEIR bodies, not simply the outer form. Anyway, that is enough from me for now. I am on holiday, as it is a national holiday here. So, I am planning to go out and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air for the next couple of days rather than sit in front of my computer. Until then, have fun, (don't blush Cat . Best, Mike

I've been meaning to post this up but kept forgetting. The link was originally posted on YouTube during a 'debate' on Tim Cartmell's video of these exercises. I've no intention of going into who is right or wrong or whatever (one can practice exercises in more than one way, depending on ones mood alone). I do think the video is useful and interesting for anyone doing these exercises, and the source does seem to be authentic and direct. http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/39441868-1117945852.html For anyone with the book it will be helpful in showing the exercises actually being performed.

Perhaps people should ditch the 'basics' tag and instead think more about 'fundamentals'? Without those fundamentals there is nothing. Come to adore them and they will adore you back.

For the OP. Are you familiar with HFW and his 'River Cottage' TV series'? He did a series a while back on vegetables alone. It was very interesting and included some Vegan stuff that looked worth investigating (not particularly practical while I'm still in China though). There is a book of recipies from the series that I like (I like most of his recipies and they are actually doable, unlike some) you might want to have a look at. I also mention HFW because from the outset of his 'River Cottage' days, he discussed the ethical issues of raising livestock that you ultimately are going to kill. When I lived in another city some Indian medical students had a local set-up an authentic Indian food restaurant. Wonderfully low prices, lovely food. A bowl of daal alone made for a fulfilling meal. I'm not vegetarian, though I know someone that did become vegetarian after a lorry filled with livestock, on the way to the abatoir, went past them. By all means follow your own feelings on this. We are all here to learn, experience and grow in our own ways. For anyone else in general, for health-and cultivation-the practice of fasting is well worth investigating. It is a practical step that almost anyone (medical condition allowing) can follow, regardless of budget or dietary circumstances.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131028230224-27307105-my-first-job-not-getting-paid-to-be-honest?trk=eml-mktg-inf-m-job-1029-p6 By T. Boone Pickens Founder, Chairman and CEO at BP Capital and TBP Investments Management

Duality. Separation. At the beginning there is duality, there is separation. Irritation, annoyance, distractions. The outside world and the ego grate against each other. Movement. The movement starts. Qi travels down the arms. The laogong, the palms, the fingers. Streams and pools of heat. The arms circle. Inside and outside combine. The light expands. The heat expands. The arms, the body. The heat of the Sun is within and without. Heaven and Earth join. Heaven and Earth combine. The promise, the caress of creation strokes the inside. The centre delights. We bow to the Divine. We bow to the Ancestors. We bow to the teachers. We look inwards to see outwards. The Sun’s light, the Sun’s heat expands. The dawn has come. The Sun rises. Within and without, I am the Sun. There is no North, South, East or West. I am the Sun. There is no inside, there is no outside. I am the Sun. We bow to the Divine. We bow to the Ancestors. We bow to the Teachers. We look inwards to see outwards. The Tao is all. All is the Tao. The Gift of the Tao is Great.

Er, no. Cat commented that John Chang was speaking to a novice. Indeed he was, but I clarified the point. The audience in this case is not the literary construct of 'Kosta Danaos' (which the character in the book was-you'd know that if you'd followed Kostas' comments on the matter) but the reader. And if you had paid attention to what I wrote, instead of trying to score points, you'd have noticed the bit about how the book was written in a specific manner for a specific audience and purpose, and that it was not about the 'practices'.

This book: http://chinesebookstore.ecrater.co.uk/p/16478229/healing-impotence-the-traditional-chinese Is actually IC based training. There are a series of exercises in it, not limited to the obvious focus. It isn't expensive either (from the above seller-others are asking silly money as it retails here in China for only 60RMB...) There are also recipies for treating impotence (boosting your jing basically). I don't practice IC and think many of the benefits claimed can be found from other training. If you are going to use certain practices, it REALLY is a good idea to have close supervision from a teacher.

I sent this email to someone who asked me some questions about their personal practice. Some of the points may be relevant and of interest to others so I am copying it here also. I found the points raised applied very much to me as to the person I was addressing them to. "Expectations. Stop it. Perhaps it is your questionable taste in music (though I confess I like the t-shirts) that is holding you back? I recommend some Doris Day ('Que Sera, Sera') and Lynn Anderson ('Rose Garden'). No, I'm not joking. Whatever the intellectual curiosity might be, it will get you-or anyone else-nowhere. AGAIN, I come to the point why traditional teachers do not tell students about things in advance of their actual experience of such things. It leads to preconcieved notions and gets in the way of allowing matters to unfold as they should. Profound experiences 'happen' rather than appear 'on demand'. Think of the best orgasm you ever had, and think about the times you tried or expected to repeat that experience. The expectations never equalled or approached the actual event as it happened, of its own accord. As I understand it, there is just 'now'. The rest is just overlaying expectations onto reality. We might never do anything if we spent our time agonising over what other people can do. You might never attempt to get laid if you spent all your time worrying about what porn stars have and can do (or worried about all the airbrushed images of 'perfect' physical specimens). Fortunately the drive to fuck is (usually) enough to prompt one beyond such worries, even if the worries never completely disappear. Neigong practice is the same. Most aren't going to approach Wang Juemin in this lifetime, but it doesn't mean the effort put in is either misguided or wasted-or not 'enjoyable'. There WILL be energetic changes happening, even if you are not aware of them at the time. 'Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, BOOM!' The wonderful thing about nearly dying is the appreciation it should bring of the moment, of life and the beauty of the 'here and now'. Much nicer than stomping around with shit coloured spectacles on surely? Why worry about the end of the world; yours personally and/or everyones? Find the beauty in each situation. See the moon clearly on the surface of the water. Now then, it just so happens I can give you some sound technical advice, which I know is what you are after (though it won't work anywhere near as well without following the 'user instructions' above). Do the STANDING Stillness Movement. Why? Because, in my opinion, it will open up a person quicker than the sitting. Given your injuries in particular, I recommend this. I'm of a mind that sitting is great, but what to practice and when will vary. I've a feeling standing would be the right focus for you now. Go through ALL the GoT exercises. Repeat individual execises to find which ones 'resonate' with your needs at this time. Like tuning forks and a piano, once you've 'got' the note you can move on. Pick a few moves and put in some quality time on them. That way you'll 'get' the frequencies. For Michael, it may work to run through the whole lot in one session, but I believe most people need to drill and polish moves to the point they have truly accessed the energetics. Keep a written journal and note down your observations (NOT expectations) of your practice, and any particularly relevant experiences related to the practice. To recap. 1. Put your expectations to one side and instead put your attention to what IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING NOW. 2. Go through the GoT exercises, putting in the time required on each to 'get' the particular frequency of that exercise. 3. Put your thoughts onto paper and get them out of your head. Do the above and you WILL find that you return to that level you are looking for (and surpass it). I have. Finally, remember to get some quality time in thinking about things other than all this stuff. Everything has its place and time."

Kostas has written about it from a physics point of view in his books. I don't have them to hand, apart from the Pammachon one (hense the reason I quoted from that). He has a very solid background in hard science (aerospace work can be very unforgiving if you get things wrong...) as well as esoteric experience beyond the vast majority claiming expertise on such subjects (certainly not limited to a certain school and its method...) The ancients certainly DID have a scientific approach. The problem we have is that very few people, now, have the actual experience to understand what was being stated. There is therefore a lot of wild speculation, with some of the worst being attempts to apply pseudo-scientific theories to these things (people with no experience of high level energy practices and a middle school understanding of physics and biology). Why do those who know usually stay out of sight? Look at history, complete with its periodic purges (murdering sprees) of 'enlightened' individuals. Frankly, just look at some of the behaviour on this forum. Lunch beckons, which is an infinitely more rewarding prospect that some of the replies that are likely to follow.

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei http://taoism.about.com/od/wuwei/a/wuwei.htm Clearly you need all the help you can get. For my part this is the straw dog that broke the camels back. Onto the ignore list you go.

I can't, I really can't, be bothered to debate the matter of terminology or the validity of these practices. Suffice to say that if a 100 year old Xing Yi master of superb repute, and one of his top students, (who also studied neigong under Hu Yaozhen), Zhang Bao Yang (over 90 years old and still teaching) held/holds these exercises in high esteem, that will do for me. If anyone with direct experience of Wang Ji Wu's lineage, or perhaps who have actually practiced the exercises, would like to chip in, I'm sure that would be instructive and interesting. Or we could just have the usual influx of opinion sans experience.

1. Just tell me you did practice safe sex. 2. That's right, don't obsess, don't analyse it.

Plenty of good information already. It's good. Don't worry about it. Or perhaps don't become attached either way, to the 'highs' or the 'lows'. The 'highs' certainly bring into stark contrast the rest of life's experiences. With 'awareness', you have to let go, or you can drive yourself to the edge-or over. I completely cleared up digestive problems earlier in my life using the 18 step tai chi chi kung exercises ('Shi ba shi taijiqigong'). I've posted some links up before for this info if you do a search. It can be found for free online and there are some videos on YouTube also. Fundamental to anxiety and digestive issues can be issues with tension in the body. You want your belly to relax and sink down naturally. Once I went down the neigong path I found I could no longer do standard abdominal crunches. They restricted my breathing too much with the whole 'flat stomach' thing. Fortunately the Chinese martial arts have plenty of good waist exercises. The exercises above will certainly help you to relax and to allow the organs to sink into their natural locations in the body. This will certainly help. Another good set of exercises are the 16 Neigong exercises in Tim Carmell's Xing Yi neigong book. They look 'simple' but then excellent practices often do. For people without a teacher to supervise them, I think moving exercises are better than static ones. My number one recommendations for 'cultivation' are 'Stillness Movement' and the 'Gift of the Tao' practices. You can find plenty on this by doing a search on the forum. Personal preference and each to their own, but it works for me. Finally, and fundamentally, never forget to keep in contact with friends and family. Don't be afraid to ask for help or just some company when you are feeling 'down'. They don't have to be practitioners of meditation or anything like that, just people who genuinely care for you. Without such help I would not be writing this now. When the dark night comes one needs ones anchors in the storm.

I just saw that myself last night on the RSF forum. My condolences to his family, friends and students.

Dumbing things down isn't educating. The OP asked a question and people have kindly spent their time and effort giving him good answers, not just 'primary school picture book and crayon' viewpoints. Students don't learn from being given a few simplistic platitudes, they learn from being pointed in the right direct and being encouraged to go down the correct path. Sometimes that encouragement only needs be gentle. Sometimes it requires a hard kick up the ass, perhaps with the prescription being repeated more than once as needed. If you find these things hard to grasp, then you can continue to choose to be ignorant, or you can attempt to bring your level up to the point where you can understand what is being discussed. Learning is moving forward, not choosing to remain ignorant. Unfortunately based on past evidence you'll probably choose to stay at the picture book and crayon level. I've started to see the real benefit of the ignore user function.

Yes, but there are a lot of kids on this forum that think they know better, and ultimately are going to learn things the hard way. I know I've had to experience hardships in order for things to penetrate my own thick skull at times. I only hope these kids don't cause themselves irreparable damage in the process. FWIW, I'll repeat myself again and say it is vital to have a teacher to guide you if you are going to try certain practices. At the very least a teacher than can help you when you do stupid things.

You've direct experience of KAP and the teachers then?

I recall YaMu once saying that Wang Juemin said the whole of the pelvic basin was a dantien. I've also seen this mentioned by other Chinese sources. An important thing, therefore, to keep in mind is that not all of the sources are saying exactly the same thing, and by sources I am talking about reputable sources, not the writings of those who have no experience of authentic teachings or their effects. (That isn't a jibe simply directed at one person on this forum, but in respect of various published 'authorities'.) It could be that the terminology has become blurred and misapplied. As for modern scientific explainations: "On the wall of a Chinese temple in Java, I found a thrilling depiction of yin and yang, one that immediately made me think of the chakras of Indian mysticism and the caduceus of the ancient Greek god Hermes (the Roman Mercury). Rather than the standard black and white circular image made popular by Western literature, this painting showed the two energies entwined like lovers, a male and female in form depicted with embracing and intertwined serpentine coils. The caduceus, a symbol used by the ancient Greeks and today erroneously instituted as the emblem of medicine, shows two serpents entwined around a staff. A Mesopotamian vase in the Louvre, dating to 2000 B.C., once again shows the two coiled snakes; this is the oldest representation I myself have found. The astonishing fact to discover is that this symbol of the coiled serpent was eventually adopted by Christianity as well, becoming the standard carried even today by bishops and patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church on their patriarchal staff. What does this seemingly ubiquitous symbol actually depict? Two plumes of energy curled in a lovers’ embrace? Most certainly, and yet more. Nearly everyone remembers the standing wave of physics from their high school classes; the particles that make up the waveform follow the same path again and again, so that the wave seems to stand still, a static shape composed of moving particles. It is important that we keep this concept of the standing wave in mind because in the next section we take this idea from the two dimensional to the three dimensional. A common mistake, when looking at drawings of the chakras of Eastern mysticism and their corresponding nadi, or “channels,” is to think of them as being two dimensional; such is not the case. Like the caduceus, these representations in fact depict the two energies entwined around each other in a three-dimensional helicoid. When drawing the nadi and chakras on wall paintings in simplified form, however, the artists of India and Tibet opted for a two-dimensional view as easier to draw and comprehend. In fact, the DNA strand itself has this very shape, a doubly entwined helicoid around a central axis: What does all this mean? Is it mere coincidence? The Universe is fractal: that which occurs macrocosmically must occur microcosmically. I am convinced that what establishes our being (our personality, our physical capabilities, our very soul if you will) is nothing more or less than a standing wave in the “gravitational” field. This wave replicates itself fractally, initially taking shape in the field of space-time within the DNA of the embryo that is to become our body; the DNA is the “yang” manifestation of our “yin” profile. As we grow older, this wave is still with us, and makes up a network of peaks and nodes that give substance to our existence. Appropriately, as we mentioned, the Greek word for evolution (or development) is exelixis. The word means, quite simply and unquestionably, “from the helix.” How did they know about the helical strands of DNA, lacking our modern technology? That they were aware of them seems clear. Both the word exelixis itself and the fact that the staff of Asclepius, god of medicine, depicts a helix entwined around a central axis (the snake is representative of a standing wave), corroborate this thesis. I believe that the ancient Greeks discovered the helix within themselves through self-awareness, first contemplating the matrix of larger standing waves that comprise our central axis and then focusing awareness to smaller and smaller levels ad infinitum, in this way revealing the fractal microcosm within our being." Kostas Dervenis, Pammachon. The above book has a chapter discussing the above concepts within modern scientific research. The free PDF file can be downloaded from Lulu for anyone who is interested in seeing how biology and physics explainations can be applied to these ancient concepts. Consider that the Yin/Yang symbol might be a cross-section view, not simply of energy centres, but also of the movement of energy along the channels in a spiral manner. It would explain why some schools of thought do not include the dots of yin and yang within the other channels. Perhaps these dots were a later addition, that may or may not have showed a different understanding or concept. Whatever manner one chooses to 'explain' such things, my personal belief is that the experience is far more important that the academic discussion. Truly experiencing the workings of the universe within the body goes far beyond any intellectual exercise in gaining true understanding, IMO.

I'd add you have to be careful. I applied something Michael told me about the running qigong while I was walking and nearly got bowled off my feet. The burst of power was such. Careful, orderly practice is the name of the game.